New Mobile Report Mobile Suit Gundam Neptunia
by HeeroUzuki
Summary: Three months after the Eves war Heero is trying to live a 'normal' life, but when he is sucked into a wormhole and dropped into the world of Gamindustri, he is given the mission to help Neptune and company as they collect the Key Fragments. But this mission could prove to be the most difficult, as Heero will be forced to deal with the growing affections of the girls around him.
1. The need for a Perfect Soldier

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or Hyperdimension Neptunia (though I wish I did.)**

**A/N:** This is a story that I came up with after watch my complete collection of Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, and playing through Hyperdimension Neptunia again. Takes place after the Eve Wars and during the first Hyperdimension Neptunia.

Expected pairings include: HeeroXNeptune/Purple Heart, HeeroXIF, HeeroXNoire/Black Heart, IFX Vert/Green Heart, IFX5pb, and IFXRed with the possibility of HeeroXCompa, HeeroXVert/Green Heart, and HeeroXBlanc/White Heart (these are kind of a toss-up).

**Ch. 1 The need for a Perfect Soldier**

The year was AC 197, three months after what was known as the Eve wars. During this time weapons called mobile suits were no longer in existence, even the mobile suits known as Gundams had not been seen since. After the battle, the Gundam pilots destroyed their Gundams since weapons would no longer be needed in this time of peace, and had gone their separate ways to try and live 'normal' lives.

However, one Gundam pilot was having a difficult time adapting to the new world. His name was Heero Yuy, the legendary Gundam pilot. He, along with the other Gundam pilots had fought to put an end to war and bring about a lasting peace for the people of Earth. Heero had been trained solely for that task, but now that he had finally accomplished this mission, he question what more could there possibly be for this soldier to do?

Heero was trained to be the Perfect Soldier, but had no experience when it came to everyday 'normal' life. And unlike the other Gundam pilots, he had repaired his damaged Gundam; the Wing Gundam Zero.

Try as he might, Heero's attempts to assimilate into ordinary life met with limited to no success. Even his attempts to destroy his Gundam which he had rebuilt met with failure. Heero could not explain why, but he felt that there was still a need for the Wing Zero, that there was a battle that he would be needed to stop.

The Gundam pilot had made a temporary home out of an abandoned resource satellite, and was using it to monitor the events of the Earth, "(…It looks like the last of the Mariemaia supporters have laid down their weapons…)" Heero felt a strange empty feeling in his chest, without conflict there was no need for soldiers, which meant that he was no longer needed. Was he truly doomed to a life in the shadows? Was he really not needed anymore?

Heero left the small room he was using as his bedroom and entered the hanger area where he had kept his Gundam. The Wing Zero stood against the wall, its snow white wings wrapped around its humanoid mechanical frame. The young teenager walked up to the towering mobile suit, "Zero…tell me…is there truly any need for a soldier such as myself?"

The Gundam remained silent, yet it seemed to Heero that the mobile suit had responded to his question, "If you say so…Zero…"

Xxx

Three hours had passed since Heero had fallen asleep; when he was suddenly awakened by a beeping sound coming from his laptop. The Gundam pilot jumped out of bed and rushed over to the PC to see the reason for his sudden awakening, "A small scale worm hole…?"

Heero wasted no time in putting his clothes on, which consisted of a green tank top, blue jeans and hiking boots. He gathered some of what he considered to be necessary supplies into a backpack and ran out into the hanger where his Gundam waited.

Once inside the Wing Zero, Heero placed his backpack behind the pilot's seat and buckled his safety harness, "Let's go, Zero…" The wings of the mighty mobile suit unwrapped from around its body and flew out of the hanger into the vastness of space, controlled by its human pilot.

Upon arriving at the coordinates that the worm hole was detected in, Heero began to comb the region of space for any sign of the anomaly. Minutes passed and Heero could find no trace of the disturbance, just when he was about to return home and pass it off as a false alarm, the Gundam pilot saw a strange distortion behind an asteroid.

As Heero maneuvered the Wing Zero past the giant rock, a hole became visible on his monitor; it was almost a perfect circular shape and the purple hole seemed to draw in anything and everything around it. Slowly, the abnormality began to pull the Gundam towards it, "The strength of the distortion is greater than I thought…it would be best to keep my distance."

Heero tried to move the Gundam away, but even as he moved the controls the mobile suit refused to move, "What's going on?! What's wrong Zero?!" The distortion continued to pull the Wing Zero in. Heero tried to get the controls to work, but they refused to respond, ultimately the distortion continued to pull on the Wing Zero until it had completely drawn the Gundam in. Then, it disappeared without a trace.

As the Gundam fell through the worm hole, only one thing went through Heero's mind, "Is this what you meant...Zero...?" The young Gundam pilot lost conciousness, while Wing Zero continued to plummet to wherever the other end of the hole was.

Xxx

Well, first chapter done. Read and comment, thanks.


	2. A New Mission? Journey with Neptune!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or Hyperdimension Neptunia (though I wish I did.)**

Hello my good readers, sorry to make you wait for the second chapter. I can't believe that the first chapter alone was viewed by ten people the day I posted it. Well, here's chapter 2, enjoy!

Expected pairings include: HeeroXNeptune/Purple Heart, HeeroXIF, HeeroXNoire/Black Heart, IFX Vert/Green Heart, IFX5pb, and IFXRed with the possibility of HeeroXCompa, HeeroXVert/Green Heart, and HeeroXBlanc/White Heart (these are kind of a toss-up, so I'll leave it up to you guys whether or not to include these pairings) In short, Heero/Harem (Possibly, depending on you readers).

**Ch. 2 A New Mission…? Journey with Neptune!**

The Wing Zero was plummeting… or falling sideways if that was possible… or possibly even… falling up… as crazy as it sounds? Regardless, everything looked the same outside the metal giants frame. Heero was lying unconscious in the pilot's seat, to have gone so long without regaining consciousness was unheard of for a Gundam pilot.

Xxx

Heero was lying on his stomach with his eyes closed; the teen slowly regained consciousness and picked himself up off the ground. His movements were tantalizingly slow, still recovering from whatever it was that caused him to fall unconscious in the first place.

As Heero's senses returned, he took the time to examine his environment… or rather, the lack of an environment. Everywhere he looked it was pitch black… complete, total nothingness. At first Heero thought that perhaps he had gone blind, but upon looking down Heero could clearly see his arms, legs and torso, as well as the clothes he had been wearing, "What's going on? Where am I?"

Heero's voice wasn't directed at anything in particular and he received no response either, "Is it possible…that I am now deceased?"

"(No… you are not dead.)"

The Gundam pilot quickly looked around for the source of the voice he had just heard, "Who are you?! And why am I here?!"

The tone of Heero's voice suggested that he demanded to see whoever it was that was talking to him, "(Please forgive me… but there is something I must ask you. Rest assured, you are merely unconscious.)"

Heero did not like being unable to see the source of this disembodied voice, while his instincts as a soldier told him to ignore the strange voice, his curiosity wanted to know why this 'person' was reaching out to him of all people, "Explain yourself. Now."

"(The reason I am reaching out to you is to ask for a favor.)"

Someone was asking Heero for a favor? Someone who Heero knows nothing about, asking HIM for a favor? "…Go on."

"(Perhaps it would be best if I introduced myself. My name is Histoire, the tome that has assisted the goddesses of Celestia for generations. The favor that I ask of you is to help me correct a mistake I have made.)"

Heero raised a questioning eyebrow, "(…A tome…? Goddesses…? Celestia…? What the hell is she talking about…?) Do not waste my time. I have little patience for this idle chatter about these little fantasies you are telling me of."

"(I am sorry, but you must believe me. What I tell you is no fantasy… rather a reality that has suffered dire consequences because of my actions. No matter the distance drawn between it, my body, and my mind… I can still recall… I recall the tragic notes of bloodshed. A war which should have never happened. The Console War.)"

Heero certainly was perplexed as to why Histoire was telling him all this and not simply getting to the point, but retained his silence, "(Two worlds exist in Gamindustri. That of humans, and that of Celestia, where the CPU [Console Patron Unit] resided. The CPU gained her powers through the faith of humanity, who in turn gained the CPU's protection. It was well-balanced. The world below and the goddess who ruled it… one for one. That was how things were supposed to be)"

The Gundam pilot knew that the moment Histoire said 'That was how things were supposed to be', she was going to explain what went wrong and, hopefully, what this favor is that she was going to ask him and more importantly why. "(However, the former goddess and I broke this careful balance and created four separate goddesses, four CPUs. The Celestia, ruled in tranquility, no longer existed. It turned into something I would never have anticipated.)"

"I believe I know what you are about to tell me. These four 'CPUs' as you call them held great disdain for one another and engaged in conflict in order to rid themselves of the other three."

Judging from her silence, Heero guessed that he had hit the nail on the head, "(Yes…the four CPUs grew to despise one another and began to fight for the honor of ruling over the world. The land where the four CPUs resided turned into the stage for a tragic war.)"

"This is that 'Console War' you spoke of, correct?"

There was another brief pause before Histoire continued, "(This is all due to my ignorance. No matter how I torment myself—being far, far away from the CPUs—all I can do is wait here… wherever 'here' is. I only wish to end the tragedy caused by my own mistake. Please, help me!)"

Heero was contemplating what he should do; it was not like he had to help her. After all, this was a person he did not know, talking to him while he was supposedly unconscious, and asking him for a favor when he owed her nothing. But then he thought back to his world before he had inadvertently fell into the space-time phenomena. The Earth was at peace, armed organizations and militaries were undergoing total disarmament, and there had been no reports of any uprisings. His world had no need for him anymore,"…What is the mission?"

The tone of the disembodied voice suggested that she or it was slightly perpexed, "(The…mission?)"

Heero crossed his arms, "What are the requirements to fulfill this favor of yours?"

"(Then you will help me? Thank you! Words cannot express my gratitude.)"

Heero tapped his foot on the ground… or whatever it was he was standing on, growing just a little bit more impatient with each passing second, "There is no need for thanks, besides you should save it for when the mission is completed."

"(Very well, let me explain the… 'Mission' as you refer to it. I need you to assist Neptune, one of the four goddesses I mentioned. I have given her the task of releasing me, as I have been sealed away. It is not that I doubt her… but I fear that Neptune will not be able to handle this endeavor by herself, and I feel that she needs the guidance of another who does not share in her… energetic, carefree, and bubbly personality.)"

Energetic? Carefree? ...Bubbly? Heero didn't exactly have much tolerance for such people, as during the war against OZ and later, Mariemaia, he had to put up with a Gundam pilot who was energetic, carefree and to a lesser extent bubbly. Though Heero would admit that while the pilot had been more than a little annoying, he had proven to be a capable ally, "(Could this dealing with this Neptune play out in a similar scenario?) I cannot make any guarantees about being able to work with her. If she should prove to be a hindrance to the completion of my mission… I'll kill her myself."

"(Please, I would prefer it if did not. She means well… she just has a habit of saying and doing random and inappropriate things.)"

"So I am to be her babysitter…"

"(Do not say it like that. I know this must be very difficult for you to take in, and I have no right to request this of you… but you appear to be the only one who I can ask. I have no one else to turn to…)"

Heero was in deep contemplation, all he knew was that if he accepted the favor from the disembodied voice, he would be stuck dealing with a potential living headache… and that actually made him cringe. Then he remembered what Zero had told him, "(…If this is what Zero was telling me about, then…)"

Against his better judgment, the Gundam pilot believed it would be best to accept, "Mission…accepted."

A small light appeared within the vast expanse of darkness, and it began to expand, "(Before I forget, I would like to know the name of the one who has answered my plea for help.)"

"…My name is Heero Yuy."

The light had become so intense within such a short amount of time that Heero was forced to shield his eyes, "(I will contact you once you arrive, but for now… I suggest you brace yourself.)"

The Gundam pilot could barely here Histoire, all he really caught was; 'contact' and 'brace yourself'.

Xxx

When the light subsided, Heero found himself in the pilot's seat of the Wing Zero, and he was no longer in the strange space-time anomaly, "(Was it just a dream?)"

Just as Heero was contemplating this, the warning alarm began to sound off. When the teen looked at the monitor, the altitude meter was dropping… fast. The Wing Zero was currently in a free fall and heading straight for the ground, "Damn! …Come on, Zero…"

Fortunately, whatever was wrong with the Gundam had either subsided or corrected itself, because the mobile suit was responding to the controls once more. The Gundam's angelic wings began to flap as the numerous thrusters that lined them flared to life. The first thing Heero made sure to do was get the Wing Zero into an upright position, so that in the worst case scenario should the Gundam experience the same problems from earlier it will at least land on its feet, rather than its head.

Once the Gundam had corrected itself, Heero's next priority was to decelerate and find a secure location to land. Heero scanned the area below and found a forest just outside of a futuristic looking city; it wasn't exactly the best location to hide the Wing Zero, but it was better than nothing.

The Wing Zero had been descending with such speed that it uprooted a few trees when it had passed over the tree line. After a minute to decelerate, the Gundam finished its descent and landed behind a row of trees, "…This is still too close to civilization."

Even with the cover of night, the Wing Zero would still stand out, so rather than simply having the giant crouch, Heero navigated the mobile suit into a nearby lake, making sure that the Wing Zero was lying down so the water would completely conceal the Gundam. Reaching behind the seat for his waterproof backpack, Heero opened the control booth of the Wing Zero and swam to the edge of the lake and pulled himself up onto dry land.

The Gundam pilot unzipped his pack and holstered his pistol, not knowing whether or not he would need. Heero zipped the bag back up and proceeded towards the city, "Landing point established and Zero has been successfully hidden. My next priority is to establish a safe house, after that find… Neptune."

Heero cringed once more, then stopped, "(Wait… how do I know that any of that was real?)"

Heero had been so caught up with receiving a mission in so long that he had not even questioned whether what had happened was real, or if the space-time distortion had even real occurred… perhaps he had been hallucinating? Or just had not gotten enough sleep?

Heero was walking into a clearing, and was pulled out of his train of thought when he heard a scream. He quickly scanned his surroundings, but could not see anyone or anything, had he bothered to look up, he would have seen the source of the screaming.

The Gundam pilot felt himself crash to the ground and begin to lose consciousness again, for the SECOND TIME… in the SAME DAY. It had was already unheard of for a Gundam pilot to remain unconscious for over three minutes, but for a Gundam pilot to lose consciousness twice in the same day, anyone else might say that the world must be coming to an end.

Before he blacked out, Heero saw what… or rather who it was that fell on him. He saw shoulder length, messy purple hair and a cute face, "(…What the hell…? A girl… falling out of the sky…?)" The teen blacked out, while the girl who fell on him struck the ground head first, obviously knocked out cold.

Xxx

Heero found himself on his stomach again, the Gundam pilot picked himself up and looked around to see the vast expanse of darkness… again, "(As I told you, Heero, I would contact you again... though I would have preferred it to have not been under the circumstances that they were.)"

Heero checked his head with his hand in case he had sustained any serious injury that could jeopardize the mission, "(…At least I'm not going crazy… I think.) What is it now, Histoire?"

"(It occurred to me that Gamindustri may be a little different from your world. And I while I am not able to do much, I can at least give some means to protect yourself… if you are interested.)"

Heero was about to protest, but decided to look at the situation from a more logical point of view. If this truly was a new world different from his own, then he had no connections for getting supplies, no map or any other directional guide to plan out where he should go, and Heero had no idea how long the ammunition for his pistol would last, adding the clip that had been slid into his pistol before he had been knocked out; Heero had only four clips.

With so little going for him at this point, Heero could not afford to pass up any provisional aid when it could mean completing his mission, and failing before he had even begun, "Very well, but should whatever you have in mind prove a burden, I will not hesitate in disposing of it. Having nothing is better than holding onto dead weight."

"(Do not worry, Heero. What I intend to give you will be anything but a burden.)"

Heero closed his eyes, immersing himself in his thoughts, "(I don't believe this… I'm talking to a voice that, for all I know, could just be in my head… she, or it may not exist at all…)"

"(I assure you, I am very real.)"

Heero was able to hide his surprise at having his mind read; the Gundam pilot narrowed his eyes "I don't remember giving you permission to read my mind."

"(My apologies, I just wanted to make sure that you had not come under the impression that you were losing your mind.)"

Before Heero could retreat into his thoughts again, a brief flash of light from in front of him caught his attention. In the air in front of Heero was a strange rifle like weapon that had a rather thick blade with a green edge folded vertically along the forearm, "(Strange… how did she-)"

"(I realize it is different from what appears to be your weapon of choice… but it should prove useful nonetheless; also there is one more thing I wish to give you.)"

A set of disks suddenly appeared out of nowhere next to the rifle-like weapon, "(These will undoubtedly be the most useful to you while you are here.)"

Heero looked at the disks with a questioning gaze, "Is there some kind of information in them in regards to my mission?"

"(These are quite different from what you are thinking of. There is nothing in them regarding the 'mission', but rather something that will help you should you come across a foe that you cannot defeat with your strength alone.)"

This only made the Gundam Pilot more suspicious of the circular disks, "How could these possibly help in a combat environment? If anything they would only serve to take up valuable inventory space that I could use to hold something else that would actually help me on my mission."

There was a momentary pause before the teen heard Histoire once more, "(Heero, I know they seem to hold no value to you now, but you must trust me. Anything I may ask or give you is not to make this already difficult favor any more so than it already is. Their true value will be known to you in time… so please.)"

Heero saw little he could do, besides she did have a point. Histoire was the one who asked him to undertake this mission, so it wouldn't exactly make sense that she would give him something that would make it more difficult, "Very well."

"(Now that that is settled, I believe it is time for you to wake up.)"

Xxx

Heero groaned as he began to awaken from his unconscious state. The teen brought a hand to his head and inspected it for injuries, "I don't appear to have sustained any major injuries. Mission parameters uncompromised."

Heero examined his current surroundings from a lying position. The Gundam pilot gathered that he was in a room, whose room it belonged to he did not know, but whoever it belonged to seemed to love the color pink… A LOT. The walls of the room were painted pink, the drapes near the windows were white with pink heart designs sewn into them, the blanket he was currently under, with every new item Heero saw in the room he came to two possible answers; the room either belonged to a girl or a guy with severe mental issues.

As he continued to examine the room in all of its… pinkness, Heero heard a soft moan next to him and immediately turned his neck to see a familiar face, even he had only seen said face for a split second earlier, "(What the hell?! How did she get this close to me?!)"

Heero's face was only mere millimeters away from the face of the girl who had fallen on top of him. She was wearing a white hoodie with the ends of the arms and waist area being purple with two lilac purple stripes, two light blue stripes running down the arms, lining the hood, and down the center where Heero could see some of the zipper which was a circle with a curved purple N; there were two plugs for hoodie strings, and two rather large pocket with big circular objects with purple Xs on them. She also wore a plain white choker, white hairclips that looked like directional pads, purple and white stockings, and lilac with blue and white accent shoes.

The girl whose name Heero did not know had a vice like grip on Heero's arm, "…She is making my exfiltration of this place harder than it needs to be."

Suddenly an alarm on the night stand next to the bed began to sound off, causing the girl next to the teen to stir, "Shuuuuuut… up! Oh, crackers. Did I break something? Where am I? My room…?"

As the preteen began to sit up she slowly opening her eyes which were a different shade of purple than her hair, she let go of Heero's arm, looked around the room, and then noticed the teenaged boy next to her, "Hey, who are you? Is this your room? *Gasp* Are you one of those guys who likes pink?"

Heero glared at the girl, then took notice of his pistol which was on the small night stand next to the bed and it was within arm's reach. He swiftly grabbed the fire arm and pointed it at the purple haired girl, "Who are you?!"

"Sorry, I didn't know you were so sensitive about people asking you about your room and if you liked pink."

Heero's index finger hovered over the trigger, "This is not my room. Now, answer the question; who are you?"

The preteen put her hands on her hips, "Is that really the kind of question you ask a girl while pointing a gun at her? I doubt it's even real."

The Perfect Soldier was dangerously close to pulling the trigger, glaring intensely at her, "If you don't answer my question, you will find out the hard way."

The girl took the time to notice the time to notice that she was sharing a bed with Heero, "Hey, what are you doing in bed with me anyway? I'm waitin' for an explanation buster!"

"How in the hell should I know? I woke up and tried to leave, but you impeded my attempts of escaping."

The girl's eyes were in a half open glare, "Heh, a likely story. *Gasp* YOU HAD YOUR WAY WITH ME, DIDN'T YOU?! PERVERT! WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?! WHATEVER YOU DID, YOU BETTER UNDO IT!"

"What makes you think I did anything to you? If anything I should kill you right now for rendering me unconscious."

It was then that a girl stepped into the room, "Oh, you're both up. Good morning, sleepyheads! Well, good afternoon, technically…"

Heero took the time to glance at the girl out of the corner of his eye, the girl had light skin, pink eyes (though Heero wondered how the pigment of her eyes could be such a color), long, curled cream pink hair and was well endowed. The girl wore a white, borderline tan wool tank top with a thick neck and unattached sleeves with small puffy balls attached to them with strings, the boots she was wearing matched her top as well, with more little puffy balls attached to strings. She also wore a red plaid skirt, a black choker with a small heart on it, blackish brown knee length socks with light pink heart cut frills, and a black purse was sitting on her hip with a C on it and button like hearts ran the length of the belt the purse was attached to.

The girl next to Heero just seemed to smile; obviously she didn't seem to notice the gun Heero was pointing at her anymore, "Um, this isn't my room, huh? Is it yours? Why'm I tucked into your bed so snugly?"

The pink haired girl closed her eyes, as if to gather her thoughts, "Well, let's see. It all happened night. I was looking up into the sky and saw a shooting star. That was you."

"I was a shooting star? Are you yanking my hoodie strings? I fell from the sky?"

The pink haired girl opened her eyes having finished recalling the events of the night before, "I'm pretty sure. I followed you to the ground with my eyes and you definitely slammed into the earth like a spear. I also saw you fall on your friend here, so I pulled you from the ground you pierced so elegantly and carried you two to my bed, since you were both passed out."

"All by yourself? That's cool, thanks! You're a lot stronger than you look."

Even Heero had to admit that he was impressed, though he kept it to himself. If this petite girl was really capable of carrying an unconscious preteen and teenaged boy by herself then she would have to be quite strong, "I attend a nursing school. Transporting limp bodies is part of our training, so I'm used to it! My name is Compa, um…"

With the conversation now steering towards introductions the purple haired girl placed an index finger on her cheek, as if it was some kind of thinking position, "Oh, I'm Neptune. Compa, huh? Then, should I call you… Com… uh… whatever. Compa's fine."

"It's nice to meet you, Nept-… Neppee-… Neptaa-… Ne-pelvis… Nep… tumor… W-wahh…"

Compa seemed as though she was about to cry just from not being able to pronounce Neptune's name, "Oh, is it confusing you? Okay, then you can call me Neptuna, Nep-Nep, Neppermint, or something else!"

"Okay, then I pick Nep-Nep. It's nice to meet you, Nep-Nep!"

During the conversation between the two girls, it was Neptune's name that caught Heero's attention, "(She couldn't possibly be the girl I was tasked with finding… could she?)"

Heero was pulled out of his thoughts when he noticed that both girls were looking at him, obviously expecting him to tell them his name. Fortunately, he had put away his pistol since it did not seem that threats were going to work on them, "…Heero."

Neptune began to rub her temples with her index fingers, "Hmm… err… could you spell it out for me?"

Heero mentally sighed, "(If this is the girl I am supposed to help then this mission has already ended in failure.) H-E-E-R-O."

When the teen looked back at Neptune the preteen had a starry eyed look on her face, "Ooh, if you take off one of the E's you get Hero!"

Compa shared the same look as Neptune, "Are you some kind of hero, Mr. Heero?"

Heero looked out a nearby window, "I'm no hero… I'm just a soldier…"

The gleam in Neptune's eyes only seemed to grow brighter, "Ooooh, he must a tragic hero!"

The Perfect Soldier thought that his words just went through one ear and out the other; he had just said that he was NOT a hero. Heero was about to contemplate his current situation when he noticed Compa shuffling slightly, "Umm… I'm sorry I only had the one bed. I would have put you in separate beds, but…"

Heero's mind began to process this information, then his mind went back to Neptune's earlier accusation, "Ms. Compa, as the owner of this residence surely you came in to check on us at one point. Did you see anything happening while you were here?"

"Well, I don't think so… oh yeah! I did see a lot of moving around on the bed."

Neptune pointed an accusing finger at the Gundam pilot, "I knew it! You did have your way with me, pervert!"

"But you were still out cold, Mr. Heero."

Neptune stopped pointing and looked over at Compa, while Heero narrowed his eyes, "What exactly did you see?"

Compa's face was now beet red and she began shuffle around more, "Well… I saw Nep-Nep hugging you… and then she… licked your lips… and started rubbing herself against you… and it looked like she was trying to touch your… well, let's just say she was doing a lot of very intimate things."

Neptune's face was red from ear to ear, "No way… I didn't really do all those things… did I?"

Compa only responded with a nod, too embarrassed to give a verbal answer. Heero on the other hand was giving Neptune a glare as cold as death, "It would seem that YOU were the one having your way with ME! Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you…"

The purple haired preteen rubbed the back of her and gave a timid smile, "Cause I'm cute, adorable, and innocent?"

Heero drew out his gun once more, pulled back on the slide, and pointed the barrel at Neptune's head, "Come on, it was an accident! And we were asleep! You gotta forgive me! Please?"

Heero, for the life of him, could not figure out why he could not pull the trigger, "(What's wrong with me? Why can't I shoot?)"

The teen lowered his gun, "If you do anything like that again… I'll kill you."

"Yeah, you say that, but I bet you were all like, 'Oh yeah, Neptune you're soooo amazing! Don't stop, give me moooore!'"

Heero continued to glare at Neptune, who returned a cheeky grin, "You liked it and you know it."

Compa cleared her throat to get the attention of the bed occupant, "By the by, I noticed your all beat up everywhere. Allow me to take a look real quick."

Neptune looked down at herself, and sure enough she had a few cuts, scrapes and bruises, and her hoodie was slightly dirty, "Oh, yeah, I am kinda scraped up, huh? Thanks, nurse-in-training, I'm trusting you with this important task!"

"Sure, but I've just started… and I'm not too savvy… I get bandages all tangled up."

Compa examined Neptune's injuries, "Your injuries aren't bad, but the scratches need disinfecting. After that, I'll wrap you up. It might sting a little, but hang in there. How much bandage should I use? A little? A lot?"

"Hmm, use it all up! Wrap me up so it doesn't come loose. Besides, it's a waste if they don't last."

Heero thought it was a waste to use it all on such minor injuries, meanwhile Compa grabbed her bandage roll, "Okay, then I'll use what I have. Please let me know if it's too tight. This way… that way… loop it over…"

Heero had already began to make plans to vacate the room the moment Neptune's clothes had been stripped off, fortunately his tank top was the only article of clothing that had been removed and it was neatly folded onto a nearby chair. He grabbed the green tank top, slipped it on, then waited outside the room.

The voices of the rooms occupants could still be heard through the door… very easily, "Huh? Nrrrg, h-hold on, slow down! Be carefu-"

"I don't want it to come loose or you'll trip over it! Hmph, hah! There."

While this was going on, Heero was experiencing a strange feeling, "Ahhh-guuuuh-wooooo! This is way too tight. I'm gonna snap, can't breathe, can't make… more… comments!"

"Nep-Nep? …Did I do it too tight after all? Please get a hold of yourself. I'll unwrap you right n-ahhh!"

Based on the sound of Neptune's voice, Heero could only guess that the preteen was losing her mind and becoming hysterical, "It's tighter now! You're just tangling me up… stop! Gimme scissors… gimme now! Put 'em in my hands and I'll do it myself…!"

Once Heero was sure the rather crude operation was over he stepped back inside to gather his possessions, taking note of the large syringe leaning on the wall. Neptune was now fully clothed… at least in her own clothes anyway, "Ahem. By the way, I was thinking while you were wrapping me in bondages… where am I?"

"Th-They're bandages! Were in the Central City of Planeptune."

Neptune looked absolutely confused, "Planep… tune? Hmm, okay, I remember someone mentioning the world below?"

Compa smiled at the preteen, which she seemed to do a lot of, "Yes, that's absolutely correct. This is one of the major landmasses beneath Celestia."

Although it wasn't much, it was the first piece of useful information Heero had heard since waking up, "When you say one of the major landmasses, do you mean there are more?"

"Why, yes. There are four major landmasses floating around. Sometimes they come close to one another and drift away. Remember?"

Neptune did not seem to have a care in the world, "Nope, not at all. Planeptune? Landmasses? Rings no bells for me."

Compa looked at Neptune in fascination, "Maybe you're suffering from amnesia. I've never seen a case in person. How original! Maybe you bumped your head…"

"Isn't there medication or something for that?"

Heero could not believe how Neptune thought that amnesia was treatable with medications, "(This may be a mission I cannot complete…)"

Compa smiled at the amnesiac once more, "No, not for amnesia. It's usually a temporary thing. I'm sure you'll begin to recall things eventually. My Grandpa always said, 'Fancy may kill or cure!' Get some sleep, take it easy, and you'll be better in no time."

The nurse-in-training turned to the Gundam pilot, "How about you, Mr. Heero? Do you remember anything?"

The Perfect Soldier crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, "There is nothing for me to remember. I am not originally from here. I came here from my world to complete a mission given to me by someone, so my source of information is severely limited."

Heero took a moment to cast a glare at Neptune, "Of course, I'm surprised I don't have amnesia. Shortly after I came to this world, Neptune fell on top of me."

Just as Heero was about to retreat into the recesses of his mind, he suddenly realized what he had just said, "(What has come over me?! How could I just give away such sensitive information so easily?!)"

Neptune and Compa looked at Heero with great intrigue, "So you're like a tragic hero from another world? That's so cool!"

"Wow, a real otherworldly hero! I never thought I would meet a hero from another world!"

Compa returned her attention to Neptune, "But you should still get some sleep, Nep-Nep. You'll better soon."

Neptune looked slightly irritated, "…Get some sleep? I feel like someone asked me to do something while I was unconscious."

The preteen's eyes widened, "Yeah, someone was crying out for help… in my dream!"

"In your dream? Then it's not real."

Neptune however, only reaffirmed herself, "Oh, you never know. It was so weird. I betcha someone from far away was like pa-choo and sent me a telepathic message, y'know?"

"It's possible. Actually, many places, Planeptune included, are being threatened by more and more monsters lately. The military powers failed to keep them from appearing. We can only defend ourselves and keep them at bay now."

"Then… there must be a boss generating all these monsters somewhere! I bet our mission is to go defeat that boss and save the world!"

Heero raised a questioning eyebrow, "'Our' mission?"

Neptune appeared to be brimming with confidence, "Yeah, you and me, Heero! We're the ones that are gonna team up and save the world!"

"You may be right about a boss, but nobody has seen or heard anything like that. How will you find it? This is irrational, dangerous, and absolutely impossible!"

Compa's attempt to dissuade Neptune seemed to just go through one ear and out the other, "Nobody's gonna beat the boss if we just sit here. Someone's gotta take initiative, y'know? That's me and Heero! Plus, I can't ignore this once I've noticed it. Haven't you heard 'strike while the iron's hot?'"

Compa seemed to contemplate this, and then her eyes slowly widened, "I believe Grandpa did have a saying like that. Yes, that's right. I wanted to be a nurse to save people."

For the first time since meeting her, a serious expression made its way onto Compa's face, "So, why should I save the injured, but not those being threatened by monsters? How impolite of me!"

Compa's facial expression changed from serious to determined, "Nep-Nep, I'm not the strongest, but I'll help. Two is better than one!"

"You will? Don'tcha have school? You're not in the middle of summer vacation or anything, right?"

"Right, but… this city's population has been declining due to monsters eating them. Students are leaving school out of fear, so it's closed down for now. Classes are suspended until further notice."

The bubbly preteen was ecstatic that Compa would be helping, "Oh, that sucks, but that means you can camp out, right? Goodie! Let's go find the dungeon where the boss is waiting!"

Neptune turned to face Heero, "You're gonna help me too, right? I mean, you ARE a hero and all."

The Perfect Soldier was regretting his decision to accept Histoire's favor with each passing second, but he had accepted, and Heero would see this mission through even if it killed him. And considering who he would be having to work with the likelihood was very high, "The mission I was given was to assist you, Neptune. I have not been given any further instructions beyond that, so as it stands I am now subjected to your whims… (This is ridicules…)"

A starry eyed look made its way onto Neptune's face, "*Gasp* O…M…G… I think I've figured it out! Heero, you and I are totally supposed to be DESTINED LOVERS!"

Heero looked at the preteen incredulously, "How exactly do you come to that conclusion?"

"You said that when you first came here, my pretty face was the first thing you saw and that I fell on you, sorry 'bout that. But if I really fell outta the sky then falling on you may have saved me! Then we wake up in the same bed, holding each other! And now, you're saying that you're supposed to help me!"

Heero was contemplating Neptune's justification of how she came to the conclusion that they were 'Destined Lovers', "(If anything it was just a coincidence, there is no substantial evidence to proof this strange theory of hers… but for some reason, I find it difficult to argue with logic like that… even if it is coming from her.)"

Neptune put her hands on her hips, a big smile on her face, "I take back what I said, you're no pervert, Heero. You were just checkin' out your true love, can't blame you for wanting to. And, I don't mind the fact that you were touching me, my super-hot lover! You're gonna have to work real hard for my love, but you and me, we're joined at the hip for life, Heero!"

Compa was beginning to look teary eyed, "T-That's not fair… I want to be Mr. Heero Destined Lover too!"

"Hmm… that's right… Compa did save us and fix us up… that means she's my rival for my lover's love! I accept your challenge, Compa, but don't think I'm just gonna hand him over."

Heero could swear he felt his eye twitching, "(Are they in their right minds? I have no need for such relationships.)"

Heero grabbed his backpack, which was in front of the bed, unzipped it, and pulled on a denim jacket before slipping his arm through one of the straps, "We should go. We will not accomplish anything by standing here."

Neptune pumped her arms, "Yeah, let's go save the world!"

Heero opened the door leading outside, allowing Neptune and Compa to step out first before leaving himself, "(…What the hell have I gotten myself into?)"

Xxx

The group of three entered a 'dungeon' that Compa had found on an internet site called Dunglemaps. The dungeon really just looked like an abandoned metalworks factory with pipes, fences, wooden boxes, and large boilers scattered all over the place. What Heero wanted to know was where the strange 8-bit music was coming from, "(I don't see any audio devices… how is it that I can hear that strange music?)"

Neptune ran out in front of the group, unable to contain her excitement, "Is this the dungeon you found searching Dunglemaps? Yeah, it feels like a dungeon with lots of tough monsters."

Compa shook her head at the bubbly preteen, smiling the entire time, "No, no strong monsters here. I searched for 'dungeons with weak monsters.' We're not ready for the strong ones yet."

Neptune's excitement dropped like a rock, "What? Only weaklings? Then I'll wait here and spend some quality time with Heero where we won't encounter any and you can come get us when you find the boss."

The nurse-in-training began to pout, "Th-That's not fair! I want to spend time with Mr. Heero! Besides we're a party, so we're basically soul mates. Abandoning your party now goes against the rules of this world. You'll get punished by the goddess!"

Heero glanced at Neptune out of the corner of his eye, "(And Neptune is one of these goddesses…)"

The teenager could see the gleam in Neptune's eyes, "Goddess? So not only are there monsters, but there's a goddess here, too?"

"(…a goddess who can't remember a damn thing.)"

Compa went from pouting to sympathizing with the amnesiac, "You didn't know? Silly amnesia… but forgetting even the goddess? Oh, you poor thing!"

The nurse-in-training immediately went back to the one thing she did almost all the time, which was smiling, "Aside from Planeptune, there are three other landmasses: Lastation, Leanbox, and Lowee. Each planet is protected by a goddess, and people go to the Basilicom to worship them and help govern each land."

Compa tried to make her expression match the tone of the topic. "We have no idea where the monsters are coming from. Their power just grows and grows. Everyone thinks it's due to the goddesses' weakening powers. Heated discussions take place every night on the Basilicom's blog."

Heero took in what vital information he could from the discussion between the two, while Neptune went off asking random questions, "Basilicom? So… what kind of place is that? Is one nearby? Do they bake cookies?"

Heero was growing tired of the banter between the two girls, "If you two are just about done, we should get moving. If we have a mission here then I would like to finish it as quickly as possible."

"Mr. Heero is right Nep-Nep, enough banter. We should get going before the weak monsters get tired of waiting for us!"

Neptune, Compa and Heero began to venture into the dungeon. While they walked down the passage, Heero's eyes darted from one spot to the next, never focusing on any one location for more than a few seconds, "(As crazy as all of what they have been saying sounds, if these 'monsters' are indeed real they could very well come at us at any time.)"

Neptune looked at Heero as he looked around with what seemed like ADD eyes, "What'cha looking for, Heero? Did you drop something?"

"If these monsters of yours are real then I want to make sure we don't get ambushed."

Neptune wrapped her arms around Heero's right arm, "Aww, are you THAT worried about me? You're so sweet; this is just another reason why we're Destined Lovers! Keep this up, and maybe we'll get an M rated scene."

Heero suddenly felt a pair of arms around his other arm, he looked to see Compa with her cheeks slightly puffed, "Heero said 'we' though, so he means me too, Nep-Nep! It's not fair for you to keep Mr. Heero all to yourself!"

"Well he was mine to begin with, but anyway let's keep going! I can smell treasure and monsters."

Both girls began to pull on Heero's arms, irritating the Gundam pilot, "I am more than capable of walking myself, I don't you two to drag me around."

Heero's words seemed to fall on deaf ears as Neptune and Compa continued to pull him down the passage, he also found himself unable to free his arms from their grip. The Perfect Soldier mentally sighed, "(Talking and threatening them with my gun doesn't seem to work. They are just too… carefree and energetic.)"

As the group rounded the corner, Neptune caught sight of what appeared to be a treasure chest. Letting go of Heero's arm, the preteen ran towards the item holding box, "Ooooh, treasure! Gimmegimmegimme!"

"Come on, Mr. Heero. Let's make sure Nep-Nep doesn't hog all of the treasure."

As Heero and Compa made their way over to Neptune, the bubbly girl opened the chest and began to look inside for its contents, bending over and giving Heero a good view of her white and blue striped panties. Once more, Heero experienced the strange sensation that he had felt earlier. When Neptune stood back up, she was holding a wooden sword in her hands, "This is better than the sword I've got now, awesome!"

Heero could not believe what he was hearing. Was Neptune so poorly equipped that a wooden sword was actually better than the equipment that she brought with her? "(How exactly does she expect to fight with such a poor weapon? The worst she could do is give these 'monsters' splinters.)"

Raising her new sword, Neptune pointed down the passage that the group had yet to explore, "Alright, let's keep going people!"

Shortly after walking deeper into the dungeon, the group encountered two green blob like creatures, Neptune's eyes began to burn with determination, "We finally found some monsters! Let's beat 'em up!"

Meanwhile, Heero just stared at the 'monsters', "(…Is this a joke? These are the monsters they have been going on about?!)"

Still a monster was a monster, and any obstacle that would stand in Heero's way would be removed. He was about to reach for his pistol when a series of 1s and 0s surrounded his right arm. In a brief flash of light, the weapon Histoire had given Heero was clasped around his arm, "So it was real after all…"

Xxx

_Heero was waiting in a hanger after being debriefed on an upcoming mission. As he was leaning against the wall, a man who looked slightly older than Heero walked in, he was wearing a blue flight suit with a blue helmet in his right hand; he had slightly curly black hair and crimson red eyes._

_The older man made his way over to Heero, "…You heard the briefing, right?"_

_Heero nodded a response, "These mobile dolls are starting to be a problem. Their large quantities and the new technology implemented into them already made the mission difficult… now we have to deal with mobile dolls with AIs built to deal with a particular Gundam. Even you have been studied by the enemy for this, Setsuna."_

_Setsuna directed his attention to the two mobile suits in the hanger, "I know… if we continue to fight as we have been, they may create an AI able to fight us on equal ground. For that reason I've come up with my own plan to deal with them."_

_After a brief exchange of words, Heero raised a questioning eyebrow, "…Switching Gundams?"_

"_When fighting the mobile dolls, we have to change the way we fight in mid battle, which could give the enemy an opening. If we switch Gundams on the other hand, all we have to do is apply our own techniques to the Gundam we're using. With the change in battle style used by the Gundam, the AI won't have any way to react, compromising their defenses."_

"_It may very well work… but rather than waiting until we arrive on the battlefield, we should go over the functionalities of the Gundams for the other pilot to make full use out of your strategy."_

_Both pilots explained in detail the weapons and abilities of their Gundams, Heero explaining the functions of the Wing Gundam Zero and its formidable Zero System, and Setsuna explained the capabilities of his Gundam known as the 00 Raiser. After Heero explained the different firing modes of the Twin Buster Rifle used by Wing Zero, Setsuna had to go into detail about the newest addition to the 00 Raiser's arsenal, the GN Sword III, "…unlike the Exia's GN Sword, the change between rifle and sword mode is faster, leaving less time required to engage the enemy at a given range. You have to press on the handle below the trigger to change modes…"_

_Xxx_

Heero continued to look at the weapon on his arm that bore a striking similarity to the 00's formidable GN Sword III, "If it is anything like it, then I should have no trouble using it."

The soldier quickly aimed the rifle barrel at the first blob, which seemed to be known as 'Dogoo' by the strange tag above its head along with a green bar. A large burst of pink thermal energy shot out of the barrel once Heero pulled the trigger, and upon contact, caused a small explosion. Once the smoke subsided the monster was gone and the green bar was empty, leaving only one more.

The strange creature was in a panic. Not only was it alone, but the smoke from the explosion kept it from seeing anything, and when it did clear, Heero was gone, "…Too slow."

In a fraction of a second, the monster had been cut in half by a horizontal slash. Heero was standing behind where the creature was, though it was now dead its green bar now depleted, "All enemies confirmed eliminated. Continuing mission."

Neptune and Compa stared at Heero with their starry eyed look, "Wow… that weapon is soooo cool! It has to be uber rare, and the way you took out the monsters so quickly was awesome! I totally would expect nothing less from MY lover."

"We'll definitely be safe with Mr. Heero around."

The Perfect Soldier rolled his eyes, "(I don't exactly see why they are so impressed.) We should continue with our mission."

Neptune began to look at the weapon on Heero's arm, "Hey, Heero. Can I use your super awesome weapon?"

Heero replied with a very simple answer for the preteen, "No."

Before he could move away, Neptune had already threw her arms around Heero in a hug, "Aww, come on! We're supposed to be lovers, y'know, joined at the hip? You can trust me!"

"(I trust you about as far as I can throw you.) …Maybe."

Once more, Heero found himself saying something other than what he really meant to say, Neptune gave the teenager a big smile, "All right! Remember, I get to use it whenever I want."

Heero narrowed his eyes at Neptune as the GN Sword disappeared in a stream of 1s and 0s, knowing that with this girl he would not be able to go back on what he said even if he did not mean to say it, "…Within reason."

Neptune and Compa stopped to pick up three disks that the monsters dropped, "There's three of them Nep-Nep. We should each take one."

Neptune took two of the disks and ran up to Heero, putting one of them in his hands, "You should always stop to pick up the goodies that the bad guys leave behind."

Heero narrowed his eyes at the disk, he did not know what exactly he was supposed to do with it, but realized that not only would it have been pointless to protest considering the two girls he was traveling with, there was also the fact that there were definite advantages to looting a defeated enemy… of course, the fact that it was Neptune who thought of this actually logical and not completely random left Heero to wonder whether or not Neptune had a brain and just did not use it. The strange disk disappeared before Heero could do anything with it, whether he still had it or not was of no concern to the soldier, so the group continued their trek of the dungeon.

The threesome came upon a three way intersection and another treasure chest, Neptune and Compa ran towards the box while Heero followed at his own pace, "Finders keepers!"

When the girls arrived at the container, they wasted no time in opening it. Neptune pulled out a large mallet, while Compa recovered a small gold bell; the aforementioned preteen playfully swung the giant hammer, "Neat. I bet'cha this will come in handy."

Compa noticed another treasure chest in a nearby room, ran up to the box, and relieved it of its contents. Compa returned to Neptune and Heero with ten bottles filled with a green liquid and a remote with a single button on it, "Look! I found more treasure!"

Neptune grabbed the controller in Compa's hand, "What does this do?"

When the bubbly preteen pushed the button, a small explosion erupted from where Neptune was. When the smoke cleared, Neptune was nowhere to be seen, "N-Nep-Nep? Where did you go?"

Heero raised a questioning eyebrow when he heard what sounded like screaming from overhead, and when he looked up, who else did he see other than Neptune heading right for him in a free fall, "(…I'm not making that mistake again.)"

Heero took five steps to his right and shortly after he did, Neptune landed right where Heero had been standing with a splat. The purple haired girl was twitching wildly and an ghostly body began to escape from Neptune's mouth… which strangely enough looked like Neptune; only it had the word 'Soul' in kanji written out over the front of the hoodie, "(I do believe we know what that button does now, it is a 'make annoying girls go away' button… or at the very least a 'make Neptune go away' button.)"

Compa violently shook Neptune in an attempt to wake her, "Get ahold of yourself, Nep-Nep!"

Neptune eventually woke back up, rubbing her bottom, "Ow! That hurt! I think I landed on my butt!"

Heero saw movement in out of the corner of his eye. When he turned to look, he saw two blocky, pixelated creatures with almost two dimensional bodies, "Great… more strange 'monsters'…"

The soldier wasted no time in going on the offensive as his GN Sword reemerged, cutting the first monster known as a Pixelvader by the strange tag over its head with yet another green bar, in a horizontal slash. Unlike the first two monsters, this one did not die from the attack, "(What?! How is it still alive?!)"

Heero took the time to notice that the green bar above the monster had almost vanished, "(I see now… it is supposed to be a measure of the enemy's staying power.) Adjusting tactics."

Heero squeezed the handle of his weapon and the blade snapped back along the forearm, and then fired a shot from the rifle, finishing the pixelated creature. Heero looked for the second monster, but it was not in his peripheral vision.

Instinctively, Heero turned around to see the other monster lunging at him, before it could hit him Heero caught the creature with his free hand. Heero gave the monster an ice cold glare, causing a strange deformed drop of sweat to run down the Pixelvader's head, the soldier threw the monster at the wall and fired three shots from the Sword-Rifle at it. The Pixelvader was still alive… barely. Before Heero could plan his next move, the strange disk that he had received from Neptune appeared out in front of him and the pixelated monster was crushed by two pieces of earth.

The pieces of rock disappeared and the monster was no more and both the GN Sword and disk vanished in a stream of data, "(…Well, I guess this disk is worth holding on to…)"

After the battle, Neptune jumped onto Heero's back, "Heero, my feet hurt. Carry me!"

"I am not a pack mule."

Heero then felt the weight of another body, which of course was Compa, "Carry me too, Mr. Heero!"

The Gundam pilot dropped both girls onto the ground and was about to walk off, when both Neptune and Compa climbed onto his back once again, "(What the-)"

"Come on, Heero! You're not gonna win my love by being a meanie!"

Heero found himself with no choice but to resign himself to the degrading task of carrying the two girls, not because he wanted to, but because they would just get back on before he had a chance to escape, "(…A mule's lot is hard.)"

Their progress was a little slow, due to Heero having to carry Neptune and Compa. As they continued down the unexplored passage of the intersection, two more monsters sprang out from behind the corner; both were the same as the ones Heero had disposed of not long ago. Heero was about to ready himself, Neptune and Compa dismounted from Heero's back and readied their weapons, "Leave this to us, Mr. Heero!"

"Yeah, can't let you beat all the monsters by yourself, otherwise we wouldn't be much of a party."

Heero was about to protest, but was able to stop himself, "(This could be good opportunity to gauge their fighting levels, then I will know whether or not they're dead weight.)"

Neptune held up her wooden sword, while Compa carried a large syringe with a long needle. Heero stood off to the side with his arms crossed waiting for the battle to be over with; Neptune struck one of the Pixelvaders over its head. The preteen then pulled out a toy gun from behind her back, "Gotta aim for the head."

Heero did not expect the toy to do anything, but was surprised when a bullet actually came out of the barrel and struck the monster, Compa held her syringe up at her hip and Heero was in for another surprise when a bullet escaped from the needle and struck the other Pixelvader… and Heero was slightly disturbed when the nurse-in-training used her syringe to stab the monster, "(…A toy that can fire live rounds and a syringe that fires bullets? There is something wrong with this world…)"

After a few seconds of fighting, the pixelated monsters were gone. Neptune flashed Heero a peace sign, "What'cha think of that, Heero? Do I rock or what?"

"You're technique is unpolished, but you have potential." The preteen pumped her arms, "You hear that, Compa? I've got the potential to be the greatest hero ever! Heero said so, I think I scored some points there."

Compa's cheeks became slightly puffed, "What about me, Mr. Heero? I did well too."

Obviously Compa wanted praise for doing, in her mind, a good job. Heero was not going to lie, but for some reason he also did not want to hurt her feelings, "…I have not seen anyone use a syringe quite the way you do."

Heero had wondered if what he said could really be called praise, however Compa seemed to take it that way as her cheeks were no longer swelled up and a beaming smile made its way onto her face, "Thank you, Mr. Heero!"

"Alright people, let's keep goin'! I know there's a boss in here somewhere. Make sure to grab the stuff they dropped."

After finding bullets with red tips left by the monsters Neptune, Heero and Compa continued down the unexplored section of the dungeon… only to be stopped by a makeshift blockade made of fences and boxes. Heero analyzed the obstruction for a moment, "It should not take too long to move these aside."

Neptune pulled out her new mallet seemingly out of nowhere, "We'll just bust through with this!"

The energetic preteen swung the hammer down on the obstruction, causing all of the debris to scatter in broken pieces, "All clear! Come on, the boss has got to be waitin' up ahead."

Heero stared at the wreckage for a moment before continuing on, glaring at the back of Neptune's head, "I was going to move them myself so we could avoid alerting the enemy of our location."

Neptune carried on without a care in the world, "But that would've taken FOREVER! It was faster just to blow it away."

After a short (in Heero's case excruciatingly long) walk through the dungeon, the group of three arrived in the last room… only there was nothing there, just more unopened crates, fences and boilers, "…It would appear that we have been led on a false mission."

"No, the monster is definitely in here, Mr. Heero."

Compa pulled out her new gold bell, "we have to lure it out now! That's why I have this bell."

Heero question whether or not it was safe to use the bell if it attracted monsters, for all he knew the 'boss monster' might not come out.

The nurse-in-training began to ring the bell, the chiming noise echoed throughout the room. Seconds passed, and nothing happened… Heero's eyes darted around the room for any sign of movement, "(Where is it? We couldn't have passed it… so where…?) …Do either of you know what exactly this 'Boss' is supposed to look like?"

Neptune gave a big cheerful grin, "Well' it's gotta be some kinda big monster with eight legs, and a really big sword!"

"…So in other words, we have nothing to go on other than the imagination of an idiot."

The group heard movement above them, and when they looked up a strange monster dropped down from the ceiling, "Move!"

Heero, Neptune and Compa scrambled out of the way, as the monster dropped where they had been. The monster had the lower body of a spider, while it's waist up looked humanoid, like a strong warrior's torso and arms though the head was clearly not. In its left hand was a large two handed with sharp edges on both sides of the blade and the monsters body seemed to be armored, "…I don't believe it… she was actually right about what it would look like?!"

Neptune stared at the boss monster, "Whoa… and I was just guessing what the boss would look like… creepy."

The strange tag displayed the name of the monster now identified as a 'Guard Vermin' and the large monster had set its sights on Neptune. The monster charged with its sword raised at the preteen who had only just readied her wooden sword; it was painfully obvious to Heero that Neptune's poor excuse for a weapon would no doubt break should she attempt to fight the creature, "Damnit…"

Just as the Guard Vermin brought its large sword down in an attempt to cleave Neptune in two, Heero had grabbed Neptune and carried her bridal style, narrowly evading the attack. Neptune looked at Heero's face as he looked back at his target, "Lover…"

"Stop that. We need a plan to deal with this enemy, we can't just simply charge in recklessly."

Heero did not have much to work with; he had two girls with him, an energetic, random preteen with a wooden sword, a toy gun that fired live bullets and a 'magic' disk, and a nurse-in-training that used an oversized syringe that also fired bullets and had a disk. He had only the GN Sword III he received from Histoire, his pistol and the third disk he received earlier. He had no explosives, or anything to make a trap with and he did not have the Wing Zero with him.

Heero grimaced at their current situation, "I'll need to improvise if we are to emerge victorious from this battle."

Having taken body count and equipment layout for the 'party', Heero began to form a plan to defeat the enemy before them. "(…A direct attack supported by indirect fire support may give us a chance to win.)"

Obviously, that meant that Heero would be the one to risk his neck to get in close. The Gundam pilot set Neptune down so she could stand on her own, "Neptune, I want you and Compa to fire at the target while I close in. With any luck, we should be able to overcome this difficult enemy."

"Why do you get to be the one to finish the monster? I want to do it!"

Heero kept his eyes fixed on the Guard Vermin, "…Because I don't want you getting hurt."

Neptune's face noticeably reddened, "You know Heero, if you keep this up, we'll get our M rated scene in no time, and maybe an adult rated scene!"

Compa made a small pouty face, "I want an M rated scene with Mr. Heero too!"

"(I have no idea just what the hell those two are talking about…) Both of you, get ready."

The blade of the GN Sword swung around into place over the rifle barrel and Heero charged at the Guard Vermin, while Neptune and Compa fired at it from a distance. The monster brought its sword around into a defensive stance, but a few of the bullets fired from the girls had struck the Guard Vermin in places where the sword was not shielding it.

As he closed in, Heero waited for his opportunity to strike, scanning each and every little movement the monster made until it eventually exposed a weak spot in its defense, "(…There!)"

Heero ran straight at the large monster and swung the GN Sword horizontally the Guard Vermin's torso, no doubt the attack had critically wounded the monster, as it let out a shrill cry. However, before Heero could get away the Guard Vermin brought its sword around and struck Heero across the abdomen, knocking him on his back. The soldier was knocked off balance by the attack, but had enough presence of mind to move before he could be hit a second time.

Heero was down on one knee, clutching the fresh wound across his abdomen, "(…This injury has impaired my ability to effectively move my torso. This leaves me with fewer options than I already had…)"

Compa ran over to inspect Heero's injury, "Are you alright, Mr. Heero?"

Blood was seeping out of the wound and Compa would be unable to properly assist Heero while the monster was still alive. Meanwhile, it seemed that Neptune was talking to herself, "What's that? Yeah, Heero got hurt real bad. What?! You're telling me he could die?! But we haven't had our M rated scene yet! Huh? Really? Okay!"

Neptune began to flail her arms in an attempt to get Heero's attention, a big grin on her face, "Hey, hey! Heero! I am totally gonna blow you and Compa away with my ultimate super-secret HDD move!"

Heero and Compa stared at the bubbly preteen for a long moment, "…What exactly is this HDD you're talking about?"

Neptune's grin was so wide it almost looked like it would split her cheeks, "I have no on earthly clue whatsoever! Histy just started talkin' to me and said, 'Neptune, use the Hard Drive Divinity, and kick the baddies' big fat butt'! …If he's even got one."

Compa fell flat on her face, while Heero pinched the bridge of his nose, "(Histoire… I hope you know what it is you're doing.)"

"(I am sorry you are having to deal with this, Heero. Please bear with it for now. And don't strain yourself, Neptune told me of the injury you have sustained.)"

Heero looked over at Compa after noticing her staring at him, "Mr. Heero, what is Nep-Nep talking about?"

There was something about Compa's face that caused Heero to feel the strange sensation that he had been experiencing around Neptune, "…I do not know how to answer your question, however I have not ruled out the possibility that she is a drug abuser."

Neptune stopped in front of Heero, jumped up and spun around with her arms and legs spread out, "(What is she doing? This looks like those strange poses done in… what were they called… manga? It looks like a pose done by those 'magical girls' if I'm not mistaken.)"

From what Heero had read, when a magical girl did her weird pose, something would happen and she would 'transform'. That 'something' certainly did happen, as Neptune was surrounded by glowing, green binary code that rapidly alternated between the numbers 1 and 0. A ring of disks surrounded Neptune and she pulled one out, "Going all out now!"

The room was suddenly bathed in a bright light and when it subsided, Neptune, or rather who Heero thought was Neptune who now stood before him had undergone a dramatic change, and it had certainly taken Heero by surprise. Her hair was much longer now and was a mix of dark lilac and purple, the bangs that framed her now strikingly beautiful face were longer and her hair was pulled into two tailed braids. Her light purple eyes had become crystal blue and her irises now looked like power button symbols, her hairclips had changed into black circular objects with glowing blue X's, the combination of which made Heero think they were the tops off of screws.

Her white and purple hoodie was replaced with a black skin suit with purple and silver segments along it and the suit hugged the curves and swells of her new, mature body very well, Heero could not tell whether she was wearing boots or some kind leg armor, but it reached up to her thighs and matched her body suit. On her hands, she wore what looked to be gloves or gauntlets with sharp fingertips that looked as though they could be used to rend and also matched her skin suit. In her right hand, she held a large, futuristic katana that shared the same black and purple color scheme as her skin suit with a few glowing blue spots, and numerous pieces of what could be considered armor and a pair of wings were floating along the sides of her body.

The woman turned to look at Heero, who was still down on one knee, "Heero, I'll take care of this."

Heero noticed how much her voice had deepened, not only that, but she spoke with a voice full of confidence… no, rather arrogant and full of pride, the teen narrowed his eye at the woman, not knowing whether it was Neptune or not, "Are you really Neptune?"

"Of course I am. I'm just stronger than I was before."

Heero could tell that she was not lying, he could feel an aura of power emanating from Neptune. Compa began to tug on Heero's jacket to get his attention, "Umm… Mr. Heero, I think the monster is tired waiting on us."

Indeed, the Guard Vermin was quite finished waiting for the group to make a move. Heero grunted as he began to stand up, his injury was worse than he had originally thought, he stumbled from his wound, only to be caught in Neptune's free arm. Once again the strange sensation came to the forefront of Heero's mind upon feeling Neptune's chest against his own, "You should rest, Heero, you're obviously in no condition to continue. Leave this to me, you're plan worked quite well and the monster has been considerably weakened. It won't take much to defeat it now."

"True, this injury may very well have reduced my fighting ability, but I will not rest until the mission is complete. I can still provide assistance, however you will have to take my place in delivering the killing blow, Neptune."

Something about the way Neptune looked at him made Heero realize that while she was indeed Neptune, it was like he was talking to another person entirely, as Neptune shot him a cold look, "No, you're injury is too severe. I won't allow you to die on me."

Heero pulled away from Neptune and walked in the direction of the monster, "Normally, I would not give a second thought to simply leaving you to fight this enemy, however I have been given the mission to assist you in any way possible. And if we are really this 'party' that you keep saying that we are, then teamwork will be vital to success."

Neptune's face softened, she was not trying to be mean or controlling in any way she just did not want Heero to lose his life, especially since he was the first person she had meet, "I won't try and stop you then. I need an opening to finish this quickly, can you manage that?"

Heero was about to reply when he heard Histoire's voice, "(Heero, now is the time for you to see the value of the disks I gave you.)"

One of the disks Heero had received from Histoire had appeared in front of him, surrounded by the same binary code that Neptune had that led up to her transformation, "(It will be quite different than the HDD that Neptune uses. In truth, I am unsure of what form you will assume once used.)"

Heero looked at the disk for a brief moment and decided that if it could help their situation, then it was worth using it. The teen reached out to touch the disk and when he did, Heero was engulfed in a bright light. Heero had shut his eyes to avoid from going blind, as he reopened them, he could see a targeting reticule in his peripheral vision.

As he looked down to look at himself to see what the disk may have done to him, he could see that his body was encased in metal armor. It was quite humanoid in appearance and it covered him from head to toe, the paint scheme was white, blue, red and gold. He had a rifle in his right hand and a red shield on his left arm, a large pair of wings was attached to the back of the armor and had a red, white and gold color scheme. The armor his shoulders was smooth and rounded, his face was covered in armor, his eyes were concealed by green see-through glass and a gold V sat on his forehead.

Compa stared wide eyed at Heero's transformation, even Neptune appeared to be intrigued by it, "M-Mr. Heero transformed too!"

"Compa." The nurse-in-training immediately shot up, unlike Neptune the transformation had not changed Heero's voice, "Y-Yes, Mr. Heero?"

"I need you to match your timing to mine. I am not as accustomed to this as Neptune is, and even with this new power I can still feel my injury lowering fighting capacity. We need to create an opening for Neptune to complete the mission."

Compa readied her syringe and stood next to the armored Heero, "We will only have one shot. Aim carefully."

As Heero pulled the trigger of his rifle, a yellowish gold orb appeared at the tip of the barrel that slowly increased on size, Neptune had readied herself for when Heero and Compa launched their attack.

The monster had waited long enough for the group to do something, and began to charge right at them. Compa was growing more and more nervous as the Guard Vermin drew near, "Are you scared?"

The nurse-in-training looked at Heero as he kept his eyes forward, at least he seemed to anyway, "Y-Yes, but I won't run away."

"…You're a strong girl, Compa."

Compa's face had reddened considerably, Heero had come off as somewhat cold, but his words just now were warm and sincere, "Now!"

Remembering her role in ending the battle, Compa fired a bullet from her syringe, while a large gold yellow beam shot out from Heero's rifle. Because of its blatant charge, the Guard Vermin could not evade the attack, so it brought its sword up in defense. Both attacks hit the sword in the same location, only the thermal energy that had been fired from Heero's rifle struck not only the sword, but it began to melt the scaly armor along the monsters torso.

When the last of the beam dispersed, multiple cracks littered the monsters sword and its torso armor had completely melted away, leaving unprotected bare skin, "You're finished."

Neptune had entered the monsters peripheral vision and launched her attack at the monster. While both swords clashed, the monsters sword shattered into hundreds of smaller pieces against Neptune's strength and the swordstress continued on to strike the Guard Vermin in its new weak point. In the blink of an eye, Neptune cut the monster in half, effectively finishing it off, "Great, we won!"

Compa began to jump for joy, while Heero fell onto one knee, reverting back to his human form, "It would seem that the mission is over…"

Neptune walked over to Heero and knelt down to looked into his eyes, giving a small smile, as well as the first he had seen from her outside of her normal bubbly self, "You certainly don't mind being reckless."

The Gundam pilot stood up to his full length, trying to fight through the pain, "I did it for the sake of the mission."

Neptune reverted back to her preteen self, "Come on, Heero. You just keep talking about 'the mission', what mission is soooo important that you would do stuff like that?"

Heero closed his eyes for a moment to collect his thoughts, then reopened them, "My mission is to assist you in any way I can. In other words, YOU are my mission, Neptune."

Neptune's cheeks had turned a dark red, her thought process made her come to the conclusion that when Heero said 'YOU are my mission', he meant, 'You are the single most important person in the world to me, and I will gladly give my life to protect you'. Neptune lunged at Heero, knocking to the ground and looking up at him from his chest, "We are TOTALLY Destined Lovers!"

Heero narrowed his eyes at the girl on top of him, "I would appreciate it if you would get off me." Neptune crawled up to Heero's face and began to rub his cheek with her own, "No way. You say that, but you know you like it, especially since you're doing it with your true love."

The preteen stopped upon hearing Histoire's voice once again, "(Neptune, Heero, can you hear me? This is Histoire.)"

Neptune returned to smiling as she looked at absolutely nothing, "Histy! Thanks for that awesome tutorial. What's up?"

Compa looked at Neptune with half open eyes, "Histy? Nep-Nep, who're you talking to? Um… nobody is here except you, me and Mr. Heero."

Neptune looked slightly surprised, "You can't hear her? Histy, can you talk to Compa, too?"

"(I apologize, but at this time you and Heero are the only ones I can speak with. Please pass my words on to your friend when I am though. Also, I do not think I am comfortable with the name 'Histy.')"

Neptune faced Compa with her usual smile, "Sorry Compa, my lover and I are the only ones who can hear Histy, I'll just tell you what she says later. Anyway, Histy, I found something weird and shiny just now!"

There was a brief pause for a moment and Heero looked at Neptune, "She had just said that she did not want you to call her 'Histy.'"

Heero waited for Histoire before continuing any further conversations, "(You refer to the Key Fragment, I assume. That is an important item needed to release me from this seal.)" Neptune appeared to be thoroughly confused, "Seal? Where you at, anyway?"

"(I am uncertain. Somebody had locked me away in this world. Please, please… release this seal and safe me! In each land, you will find a Key Fragment. First, please collect these items.)"

Heero remembered what Compa had said early about there being three more landmasses along with Planeptune, "So we are to collect four of these Key Fragments."

"Four Key Fragments? If we do this fetch quest, we can save you, right? So where are they?"

"(Unfortunately, I have little information on that. I only know there is one on each landmass. You have collected one already. Each piece is guarded by a strong adversary. Find the fragments by defeating these foes."

Heero noticed a look of uncertainty make its way onto Neptune's face, "So, I get that we hafta save you, but should we really do all this for someone we don't even know?"

For the first time, Neptune said something that actually made sense to Heero, though since it came from her it did leave the Gundam pilot feeling a little creeped out, "(It is only natural to feel that way. Others do not trust me, either."

Heero remembered how Histoire reached out to him with her plea for help, "So you attempted to contact others aside from us?"

"(Yes, however, you two are my last and only hope. Please do this and save me.)"

Neptune returned to her contagious smile, "Hmm, it's tough for me to say no, but finding all these thingies sounds like a real bore-chore."

"(Are you concerned? There is no need. I am certain you can do this.)"

Neptune shook her head, "No, I mean, we're gonna do all this stuff to save one person… Can't it be like, to save the world?"

Heero mentally sighed, "(Just what she needs… an over inflated ego.)"

"(How honest. As I said, I am the world's everything and the world is mine. Saving me is tantamount to saving the world.)"

Compa looked very left out, while Neptune's excitement was skyrocketing, "Huh? Really? Oh, well, okay then! Don't stop there. Pump me up some more!"

"(By defeating the various monsters in order to obtain the pieces, you will save countless lives all across the world.)"

Neptune's excitement seemed ready to explode, "Killing two birds with one stone. I like it! Anything else to boost my drive?"

Heero speared his errant bangs with his fingers, "(I think your 'drive' doesn't need any more boosting.)"

"(I wish I could add a million credits to your saving… but that is a little beyond my control.)"

Fortunately, Neptune's excitement was not raised any higher than it already was, "That's so much! I better get my stomp on!"

Compa made her presence known after Neptune and Heero had spoken with Histoire over a prolonged period of time, "…Mr. Heero… Nep-Nep, why are you so excited? I can't hear anything… I don't hear this person's voice… What are you three talking about? I… I want to be included too… Nep-Nep…"

Heero couldn't help but feel bad for Compa, even more so now that she looked like she was about to cry. He stood up with Neptune and pulled her into a light hug, "Just because there is a lack of communication between you two does not necessarily mean you will not ever be able to speak with her."

Neptune proceeded to pat Compa on the back, "Oops. I'm so sorry, Compa! Let's get something to eat and I'll talk to you about for hours and hours and hours!"

Once again the preteen returned to smiling, as if it was second nature to her, "But Compa, Histy's voice will never reach a cry-baby. C'mon, buck up, kiddo."

Compa wiped away a tear that tried to make its way down her face, "…Fine, I understand."

It was then that the nurse-in-training noticed how close Heero was and that he was hugging her, causing her cheeks to change a few different shades of red and her heart to beat a million times a second, "U-Umm… M-Mr. Heero…"

The teen let go of Compa, "…Now, if we are finished, we should return to the city. We need to plan for the journey ahead."

Neptune began to beam up at Heero, "Does that mean you're gonna stick by me, Heero?"

"As I said before, my mission is to assist you. As such, I will accompany you and lend you my abilities until your mission is complete. Now we should depart, seeing as how our business here is taken care of."

Xxx

On their way back to the entrance of the dungeon, Heero was in silent contemplation while Neptune and Compa ran ahead. Inwardly, he was actually… excited. He had seen many things that did not exist in his own world, not only that, his own world was at peace and no longer need him, whereas there were people in this world that DID need him and he could use his abilities to help them and save the lives of others.

Heero had been so deep in his thoughts that he did not notice Neptune walk up to him, until he was looking directly into her purple eyes, "…What is it?"

Neptune was giving the Gundam pilot a big smile, "You know, I feel pretty confident about this adventure we're gonna have because you're gonna be with me, right?"

Heero's lips curved into a small, almost unnoticable smile,"…As long as you need me."

Neptune grabbed onto Heero's right arm with both of her own, "Did you smile, Heero? You totally did! Well, I'm always gonna need you, my Destined Lover."

Heero let his normal stoic expression replace the smile and felt another pair of arms around his left arm, he did not even have to guess who it was that was holding it, "That's not fair, Nep-Nep! You tried to have a private moment with Mr. Heero and score love points with him!"

"I told you before Compa, I saw him first."

While he would have to travel with two girls who called themselves his lovers, maybe he could get use to staying in this new world. This thought entered his mind as they approached the entrance of the dungeon, a bright light shining through it.

Xxx

Chapter 2, done. Once again, I'm sorry it took so long for me to put this one up. The flash drive I originally had this story saved to kinda died, so I had to start over from scratch. I also found my old NES and some games to go with it, among them a copy of the very first Final Fantasy I. For Heero's transformation, I tried my best to describe the Wing Gundam (EW), basically when Heero transforms he turns into a Gundam... just not the giant ones the we all know and love. Expect to see Heero undergo transformation other then the Wing Gunam. Anyway, what do you guys think of the pairings so far? Read and comment, thanks!


	3. A New Party Member and Rival

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or Hyperdimension Neptunia (though I wish I did.)**

I have been getting quite a number of views from this story, so I'm going to take a wild guess and say you guys like this story of mine. Well, here's chapter 3 for your viewing pleasure, enjoy.

Expected pairings include: HeeroXNeptune/Purple Heart, HeeroXIF, HeeroXNoire/Black Heart, IFX Vert/Green Heart, IFX5pb, and IFXRed with the possibility of HeeroXCompa, HeeroXVert/Green Heart, and HeeroXBlanc/White Heart (I would like the opinion of my readers on whether or not to include these pairings.) In short, Heero/Harem (Possibly, depending on you readers).

**Ch.3 A New Party Member and Rival**

It was the day after the party went into the 'Tutorial Dungeon' and found one of four Key Fragments that would be required to free Histoire. It was also that very same day that Heero had become a part of Neptune's 'party', was deemed her 'destined lover' as well as Compa's based on circumstantial evidences, and found just how useful the disks that Histoire gave him were.

The party was currently resting in a forest close to the capital city of Planeptune, Heero and Compa were sitting next to a tree near a lake and the nurse-in-training was examining the injury he had received the previous day… rather she was TRYING to examine it, she was having difficulty looking at the injury since she was also having to look at Heero's well-toned abs, "…You said that you are a nurse-in-training, have you ever had to deal with this kind of injury aside from applying antibiotics and bandages?"

Compa frantically shook her head, "O-Of course I have! I-I'm just… uh…"

The nurse-in-training could not help but blush at the sight in front of her. While Compa was staring at his abdomen, Heero was looking at her with a questioning gaze. He could always treat the wound himself, but thought that if Compa had more experience with her profession she would become a more valuable asset to the party, "What exactly are you looking at?"

"U-Uhh n-nothing! A-Anyway, your injury isn't too serious, but we'll have to monitor it for now."

Heero slipped his tank top back on seeing as how Compa was done with her examination, then noticed that Compa's face was unusually red, "Are you running a fever?"

Heero leaned forward until his forehead was touching Compa's, "…You're temperature appears to be normal."

Compa felt as though she was going to faint just from how close Heero's face was. The pink haired nurse could feel Heero's warm breathe against her skin and a few strands of his chocolate brown hair were beginning to tickle her face, "U-U-Uhh… u-ummm… M-M-Mr. H-Heero… (I-I've read about something like this… the boy is supposed to…)"

Heero was too busy checking to make sure that the pink haired girl in front of him was not sick, that he did not notice Compa slowly inching her face closer to his. Just when Compa's lips were barely a hairs width from Heero's, Neptune jumped out from behind a row of bushes, "Are you guys done yet? I'm soooo bored-"

Compa quickly pulled away from Heero, but not before Neptune saw how close the nurse-in-training was to kissing Heero, "Hey, what were you two doing?!"

Heero stood up to his full length, "Compa's face was unusually red, I was checking to make sure she had not contracted a fever. If she has, Compa will only slow the progress of the mission."

"A-And I was checking to make sure Mr. Heero's injury was healing!"

Neptune eyed Compa suspiciously, "Then why did it look like you were about to kiss him and score points with Heero?"

Heero grabbed his backpack and slung it over his shoulder, "Instead of wasting our time with meaningless banter, we should focus on the mission at hand; acquiring these 'Key Fragments' and rescuing Histoire."

"Heero is right Compa, we already gathered the fragment from Planeptune. Let's not waste any time and mosey on to the next landmass."

Compa had calmed herself after her moment of embarrassment, "No need to rush. This place is still threatened by monsters. We can't just leave the townspeople like this."

Neptune seemed slightly irked, "Well… fine… Let's go clobber some monsters."

Personally, Heero did not care either way whether the party would head to another landmass and search for a Key Fragment or stayed on Planeptune to fight monsters. All he was focused on was completing his mission… though it would be a lie if he were to say that he did not care about the well-being of the civilians, "I have taken the liberty of handling our finances. Should you choose to purchase something, I ask that you hold onto the receipt so that I may properly calculate our expenses."

Neptune flashed Heero a thumbs-up, "You got it, lover!"

Heero still could not get used to having Neptune call him 'lover', but knew he would have to eventually, "If we intend to stay here for the time being, it would be wise to have you and Compa outfitted with better equipment."

The purple haired preteen tilted her head, "Why? Our stuff is just fine right now. We don't have to worry about that do we?"

"No, our inventory is not 'fine'. I will be blunt Neptune, what you currently have is by far the worst excuse for equipment I have ever seen. Where you get the idea that a wooden sword makes for a good offensive weapon I'll never know, however I'm sure you will find that future battles will render it completely useless. If you are equipped with a better sword, not only will you find battles to be much easier, but if we decide to undertake any of these 'quests' it will raise our chances of success."

Neptune understood what Heero said, her thought process just worded it differently. Nonetheless, she grew more and more excited with each passing second, "Yeah, I think I getcha'. New stuff means beating up monsters is easier, and that means easier experience points! Easier experience points means easier levels, and easier levels means higher stats, higher stats means completing quests gets easier, and that means more money! So not only is my destined lover super-hot, super-nice and uber strong he's also SUPER SMART!"

"(I don't see how that makes me smart… if anything it is common sense.)"

Another thing Heero had recently picked up on was the strange 'Level Up' system that applied to this world. While it was obviously very strange to him, Heero would admit that it was indeed very helpful. Whenever he would 'level up' as Neptune and Compa called it, he did feel stronger and a bit more energized.

Neptune turned on her heel and pointed towards the capital city, "Let's go get some new stuff, get a quest and go beat up some monster!"

Xxx

The party of three was walking down the busy streets of Planeptune, Heero was searching for any equipment stores that could supply Neptune and Compa with better weapons than they already had… especially Neptune. Unfortunately, there efforts turned up nothing. The party was currently seated on a bench in one of the parks located around the city, Neptune looked bored out of her mind, "We've been searching for hours now and we haven't found any kind of equipment shop…"

The fruitless search had even left Heero feeling a bit irked, "This has become quite troublesome…"

Compa was in deep contemplation, when her eyes widened in realization, "Oh! I just remembered something that might help. I wish I had thought of it earlier."

Both Heero and Neptune looked over at the nurse-in-training, "I wouldn't expect Mr. Heero to know because he's from another world, but do you know the internet site 'AMAZOO'? It's a big online shopping site that sells just about everything! We should be able to find what we're looking for there."

While Heero wanted to know why Compa did not think of the idea sooner, he was thankful that she even thought of the idea at all, "Of course, we'll need to use a computer to get on AMAZOO, and by now all of the public computers are already being used."

"There will be no need to worry about getting to a computer."

Heero set his backpack on the ground, unzipped it and pulled out his laptop. Neptune looked at the computer sitting in Heero's lap, "Wow, you've got a laptop? Those are supposed to be really expensive! ...Well at least for us… for now anyway."

Heero opened his laptop and turned it on. After the PC was finished booting up, he opened up a window and sure enough he had a connection, "(So my laptop works here as well…)"

Heero typed 'AMAZOO' into the search engine and found the link to the site, the site name was at the top as well as what appeared to be there motto 'Fast delivery guaranteed! From costumes, weapons to processor units… "I will have this site bookmarked so we can cut the amount of time required to open it and procure any necessary supplies."

After saving the site, Heero noticed that he needed a login ID before he could do anything on the website, "…I should make it something simple, yet not so much that hacker could get in."

Heero was about to start typing, when Neptune suddenly lifted the laptop out of his lap, "Let me do it!"

"Wha-"

Before Heero could stop her, Neptune had entered both a username and a password for the login, "There, all done."

Heero looked at the username and login, Username: HEEROXNEPTUNE, Password: Destined Lovers. The boy began to glare at Neptune, who just leaned on his shoulder and began to draw shapes on his chest, "Aww, don't get mad. Deep down I know you like it."

"(Hopefully they sell Ibuprofen…)"

Heero opened the internet shop with both Neptune and Compa looking over his shoulders. When he clicked on the weapons section, Neptune became disheartened, "What?! They don't have any swords? This sucks!"

"(It may be more difficult to outfit the team then I thought.)"

While Neptune could not get a new weapon, Compa saw a syringe on the list of available weapons, "If it isn't too much trouble, can we get the syringe they have?"

Heero wanted to get equipment for both Neptune and Compa, but if he could not do that then he would at least do so for one of them.

When he checked the price for the oversized medical appliance, the cost came out to one-thousand credits, "It is within our budget, though I would like to refrain from any further transactions until we have a more stable income."

After selecting the 'Buy' tab, a vacuum like sound was heard from a nearby mailbox, garnering the groups' attention. After a few second the postal box spat out a large syringe, Compa walked over to pick it, holding it gingerly in her hands, "I do not see any difference between that syringe and the one you have been using."

"Mr. Heero, with syringes it's not what's on the outside that makes it strong, but what's on the inside."

While the exterior was no different, the substance held within was a different color. Heero questioned how the substance could make it more powerful, but when he considered everything that had happened up till now it didn't seem completely unbelievable.

Neptune, who had been lying on her back the entire time, looked as though she was about to die from boredom, "Can we go now? I'm bored just sitting here."

Heero closed his laptop, slipped it back into his backpack and slung it over his shoulder, "It would be best to do so. We have nothing to gain by staying here."

Neptune sprang out of her seat on the bench and ran out in front of her two party members, "Let's go find a dungeon now! We could totally use the levels."

Both Heero and Compa followed after their energetic leader, Heero glanced over at the nurse-in-training, "Compa."

Compa looked over at the Gundam pilot, "Yes, Mr. Heero?"

"I wish to extend my gratitude, for what it's worth. Thanks to you, our mission will be easier to accomplish."

Compa's cheeks were tinged a light pink and she began to look at the ground, "O-Oh, y-your welcome, Mr. Heero."

"…One more thing."

The pink haired girl looked back up. "There is no need for you to be so formal. You may call Heero."

Compa's cheeks slowly changed from pink to red, "O-Okay, M-Mr... umm… H-Heero."

Heero continued after Neptune with Compa right next to him, Compa could feel her heart thumping against her chest, "(Heero is so nice…)"

Xxx

The party arrived at their destination, the inside of a cave. There were stalagmites and stalactites growing around the cave, though they were not growing along the path, so they would not impede the progress of any who traveled along it. The cave had some lighting, though that would have to be due to the fluorescent crystals scattered around the cave.

The group walked in to the dungeon and of course Heero was already on the lookout for monsters, while Neptune decided to throw out a random comment as they approached a split in the path ahead, "Bad guys holed up in caves, but I wonder if it's kinda like where they do the thing and make babies. Sorry to intrude… Compa, it's dark, so watch your step. You never know when you'll h-aghh!"

Compa and Heero looked down at Neptune, who had obviously fallen, "Nep-Nep? Are you okay? You should be careful too, or you might fall onto some spikes and game over…"

"No, I ran into something. Wait, no again, something ran into me!"

Heero's attention was now on what it was that Neptune had collided with, "Actually, that something is a someone, and both you and that someone ran into each other."

"Ow… watch it, girl. This isn't the place for kindergarteners to have recess!"

Neptune and Compa directed their attention to the person in front of them. Sitting on the ground in front of them was a girl with waist length brunette hair, a black chocker, what looked to be a leaf tied into a bow that held some of her a ponytail to the side, and her eyes were the same shade of green as her leaf bow.

She wore a black and silver tanktop, black shorts with a black belt and a silver buckle, a pair of black socks and what Heero thought was a pair of blue combat boots. Perhaps what stood out the most was the big blue jacket she was wearing, which seemed to be a few sizes too big for her considering how the sleeves passed her arms and looked very trench-coat like. There were silver buttons that lined the center of the jacket with silver lining and red marks on the jacket arms that looked like thunderbolts.

Neptune eyed the new girl suspiciously, "Kindergarteners? Look who's talking. Who're you? Do you live in this icky cave?"

The brunette cocked an eyebrow, "Do I look like a ragged bum to you? I'm IF. I'm here to eliminate the monsters, as requested by the Basilicom. Who're YOU?"

Neptune and the girl now known as IF picked themselves up off the ground and dusted themselves off, "We're here because people are in danger. So, we're here for the same reason. My name is Neptune and this is Compa. The really hot, cool looking guy is Heero."

Heero narrowed his eyes at Neptune but retained his silence while IF seemed to be sizing him up. Compa gave a smile to IF, who seemed slightly irritated, "H-Hello. I enjoy arts and crafts, and I'm good at math. I know I don't look it, but it's something I'm quite proud of."

"Then Compa, you are now in charge of our item inventory. Anyway, why not help us conquer this dungeon?"

"What? Well, I guess the more help I get, the easier it'll be for me. Fine. We'll team up, but know that you're joining me!"

IF seemed to want to keep things strictly business, Neptune's eyes began to gleam with excitement, "Oh, you'll do it? I'm so glad I asked. Compa, Heero, Iffy said she'll join our party!"

IF maintained her serious attitude, "Whatever. Don't call me Iffy. That's not my name."

Heero simply closed his eyes, "I personally do not mind keeping our relationship strictly professional. We will use her, and she will use us to complete the mission. It will make parting much less of a hassle, but I will not objective if you truly want her among our numbers."

Compa clearly had no objections to having IF with the group either, in fact she was all for it, "Now we really look like a party! We'll be together forever. It's our pleasure to have you with us."

"Yeah, yeah, okay. Wait, what? Forever? No, just for now. This dungeon."

Neptune would not accept IF attempting to leave even though they had just met, "Bzzzt! We're already a party, so you can't get away from us, even if you try. Abandoning your party is against the rules of this world. You got that, missy?"

Heero could tell that IF didn't exactly get what Neptune said, "U-Um, no, but… It doesn't matter."

"One more thing Iffy, Heero is off limits to you 'cause he is my Destined Lover."

IF shifted her gaze between Neptune and Heero, "Destined… Lover? What is she talking about?"

Heero walked past the three girls and stood in the middle of the intersection, "She is under the impression that we are lovers and has based this purely on circumstantial evidence. We are not in that kind of relationship."

Neptune whispered to IF so Heero wouldn't hear, "(He's just in denial.)"

The brunette rolled her eyes, "I sincerely doubt that."

The energetic preteen stood out in front of the party, "All right people, we should split up so we can find the boss! I'll go with Heero, and Compa, you can go with Iffy."

The nurse-in-training latched onto Heero's arm and entered into her usual pouty face when situation regarding being with Heero arise, "Why do you get to be the one who pairs up with M- I-I mean Heero? I want to be paired up with him!"

Neptune latched onto Heero's other arm, "But the hot guy and the cute girl are always supposed be paired up whenever they split up with the team!"

IF snickered at Heero predicament, "You're certainly popular, aren't you?"

Heero shot a glare at IF, who let out a sigh. With both Neptune and Compa bickering about who was going to split up with Heero they would not get anything done, "Look, if it's going to be this much of a problem how about this, I'll pair off with Heero and you two can check somewhere else?"

Neptune and Compa stopped their bickerfest to look back at IF, looked at one another, then marched up to IF, "Why should we trust you with Heero, Iffy?"

Compa's cheeks were slightly puffed, "Ms. IF, are you trying to steal Heero from us?"

The brunette crossed her arms, "No, and the reason why I suggested it was because we aren't getting anywhere with you two fighting one another because both of you want to go off with your friend here. If I go with Heero, neither of you will feel jealous of the other, we can get on with our search of finding the monster, and then we can go our separate ways."

They may have only just met and would more than likely go their separate ways, but Heero liked her. Not in the emotional way, but rather because she was focused on the mission. Of course, only one reply came out of Neptune and Compa, "NO!"

Heero was getting tired of standing around when he could be using this time to complete the quest at hand, "I suggest that I go by myself, while the three of you search for the target elsewhere."

Before Heero could walk off, Neptune and Compa latched onto his arms once more, "No! We have to stay together Heero! It's what lovers do!"

IF took a deep breath and exhaled, "The only way I see us making any progress is to stay in one group, but it will take longer to search the dungeon that way."

The other two girls of the party exchanged glances with one another, "Fine!"

With the problem now resolved, the group set about what they originally came to the dungeon to do, which was find the boss monster and eliminate it. Neptune lead the way, going down the left path, "We should totally check this room incase this is one of those dungeons where the boss is near the entrance!"

The group followed after Neptune, though Heero and IF were farther behind since they chose to walk. Inside the room, it was circular in shape with crystals growing all over the place and a particularly large crystal was in the center of the room. Heero and IF waited by the entrance, while Neptune and Compa searched the room for monsters and treasure, "Hey, I wanna ask you something."

Heero glanced at IF out of the corner of his eye, "The question you choose to ask me will determine whether or not I will give you an answer."

The brunette glanced at Heero for a brief second, "You seem like you have a good head your shoulders, and unlike those two you seem to be a bit more mature and realistic. What I want to know is why you're babysitting them? You could save yourself a lot of trouble by just leaving them."

Heero closed his eyes and collected his thoughts, "True, I would not have to trouble myself with watching over these two if I were to leave. However, I am doing this as a favor to someone. Once I have accepted a mission I see it through to the end."

IF cocked an eyebrow at the teen, "Even if it means being stuck with a living headache like those two?"

Heero merely nodded a response and IF leaned against the wall, "I'll tell you this, you've got your work cut out for you."

Heero and IF looked up upon seeing Neptune and Compa running back towards them, "We didn't find anything, but we leveled up again from fighting these really weird eye monster thingies."

IF pushed herself off the wall, "In short, this was a waste of time. That leaves only one other way to go."

The party left the room and went down the right path, which was had a few curves and luminescent crystals littered the walls. Once they rounded the first curve, a pair of monsters that looked like large eyeballs with wings and a single leg were waiting, "Hey, those are the eyeball thingies that Compa and I fought!"

Neptune shot a dirty look at Compa, "And what was the big idea usin' me as a human shield?! I lost ninety-four hit points 'cause of you!"

Compa shifted slightly, "I-I'm sorry Nep-Nep. But they surprised us and I didn't know what to do."

Neptune crossed her arms and huffed, "That's the last time I take a hit for the healer."

Heero armed his GN Sword and prepared himself to deal with the monsters. The teen saw IF standing next to him out of the corner of his eye, "…I can handle this I my own."

The brunette pulled a pair of Katars out of her jacket sleeves, "I'm sure you could, I just want to get this over with."

Both Heero and IF entered into a full on sprint as the two monsters drew closer. Heero made a single vertical cut across one of the 'Imps' as they were now known while IF had used both Katars to leave an X shaped mark on the other, though their movements were so fast that to Neptune and Compa, both combatants looked as though they had ran right past them until the Imps fell over, "Whoa, they must've been moving super-fast! I wonder if I could do that."

IF put away her weapons and looked back at the Compa and Neptune, "Are you two just going to stand there or are you gonna get moving?"

As both girls made their way up to the duo, IF looked over at Heero, "I gotta say, you're pretty good. I was worried that you were just as bad as them."

"While I will not divulge any specific information, I am well versed in the art of combat. As for my evaluation of your performance, you are better I thought you would be and you clearly seem to know just what you are doing. This mission may not take as long as I originally thought."

Once Neptune and Compa had caught up, the group continued down the rocky cave passage. After combing the area thoroughly, the group arrived at a curve and could see movement behind it, Neptune ran over to sneak a peek behind it and grinned, "You guys, there's the boss!"

Heero, Compa and IF arrived at the edge of the curve and saw what Neptune was looking at and saying was the boss, the monster was a large worm with sharp teeth and a rather tough looking hide. Heero cocked an eyebrow at the oversized insect, "Just what the hell have the tourist been feeding this thing? It is quite big, considering that it is a worm."

"It's probably been eating people. My job description says it's been causing a lot of damage and problems to the nearby towns, so it seems like a likely explanation."

Compa slowly turned her head to look at IF because she was violently shaking, "I-It eats p-p-people?"

Neptune pulled out her wooden sword, a determined look on her face, "C'mon guys! Our party now has four people, so there's no way we can lose!"

The energetic preteen ran out from behind cover and straight at the monster, "Dammit… you idiot what are you doing?! That weapon will have no effect on this enemy!"

Neptune quickly swung her wooden sword at the top of the monster's head, which was known as a Sand Worm. Unfortunately, just Heero had said the wooden weapon did nothing more than irritate the monster, forcing Neptune to pull back a safe distance from it, "Huh? My attack didn't do anything?!"

IF looked over at Heero, who was watching the battle with narrowed eyes, "So, what do we do? It seems like the only thing she's succeeded in doing is pissing that thing off."

Within a split second the GN Sword III was already on Heero's arm, "I had originally intended to ambush the target to increase the mission success rate, however since Neptune has given away our position and more than likely endangered herself, we have no choice but to engage the enemy now."

IF pulled out her sharp Katars once more while Compa hefted her syringe, "I can only imagine the hoops you have to jump through for this girl."

The three other party members emerged out from behind cover a fair distance from the monster. Neptune turned around to face them, though a nervous bead of sweat could be seen running down her cheek, "Hey, Heero. I guess you were right, my sword isn't doin' much good against this boss."

"Which is why you should learn to use your head more."

Neptune made her way back to the rest of the party, while the monster looked more than a little peeved from being struck on the head, "We are going to implement the same strategy we used to deal with our last difficult adversary, only now that we two close in combatants it should prove more effective."

"You mean the one where Compa and I started blastin' the baddy and you attacked him while he was defending? That was so cool."

Compa and Neptune readied their ranged weapons while Heero and IF prepared to make a run straight at the monster. Once the duo started firing, IF and Heero quickly closed the gap between them and the Sand Worm, because of the monsters positioning Heero had to make his vertical slash from bottom to top, which caused him to worry whether the plan would still be effective.

The attack had inadvertently launched the monster into the air, IF jumped onto Heero's back, then just as quickly bounded off. Heero had expected to feel at least some weight, but IF's movements were so quick and efficient that he virtually did not feel any, once more impressing the Gundam pilot. The jump had placed the brunette at a slightly higher elevation than the Sand Worm, IF merely smirked at the helpless monster, "You know what they say, what goes up…"

IF flipped in mid-air with one of her legs outstretched, "…must come down!"

IF delivered a swift and extremely painful axe kick to the Sand Worm, sending it towards the ground where unfortunately for the large insect, was where Heero was. The teen quickly brought his blade around and struck the monster, sending it straight into the wall, where shortly after IF slammed it into the ground with her Katars, placing it in-between Heero and IF.

Both combatants quickly converged on the monster, their blades sliced through the air and into the Sand Worm. After the attack was over, the Sand Worm was severely beaten, as if it was on its last leg, Neptune's began to gleam at the end result of Heero and IF's well timed assault, "Wow, you guys already have a co-op attack? Neat!"

IF cocked an eyebrow at the bubbly preteen, "We were just taking advantage of one another's movements, it's not that special."

The Sand Worm Violently shook its large body and then slammed its long tale against the cave wall, causing some of the stalactites to fall from down. Compa narrowly avoided being crushed by one, but fell on the ground in the process and another stalactite was heading straight towards her.

The nurse-in-training closed her eyes, bracing herself for the inevitable pain, but instead felt weightless. When Compa opened her eyes she found herself looking up at Heero from his chest, "You need to be more careful, you can't expect someone to save you when you are in danger all the time."

Compa looked down and her face immediately reddened, "U-U-Ummm… H-H-Heero…"

Heero was wondering what Compa was looking at, when he looked down he saw that his hand was on Compa's left breast. The teen swiftly pulled his hand a hand back and stood up, "…I apologize. I had not intended to grab you in such a manner."

Compa sat up, a dreamy eyed look on her face, "Heero touched my breast…"

Neptune leered at the pink haired nurse, meanwhile IF was having some difficulty dealing with the Sand Worm despite the fact that it was injured, "You're persistent… I'll give you that. But one way or another you're going down!"

The oversized insect struck the cave wall once more, resulting in more stalactites falling from above. Between having to dodge the sharp falling objects and fighting the Sand Worm, IF was straining herself to juggle both tasks, "Grr… This is getting tough…"

IF moved to dodge another stalactite, however it left her open to an attack from the monster. The Sand Worm struck IF with its tail, sending her into the wall on her back, before she could fully recover from the attack the Sand Worm was already upon her.

IF tightly shut her eyes just as the worm raised its tail to strike her again. When she didn't feel anything, IF slowly peeled her eyes open and was shocked at the sight before her. Heero was in front of her and had taken the attack himself right into his back, the brunette could see blood seeping out of the corner of Heero's mouth, "W-Why did you…"

"The enemy's attack… would have rendered you incapacitated… whereas it would only lower my fighting capacity. To that end… I am willing to endure an injury so long as it means we will complete the mission."

The disk Heero had used the previous day that allowed him to use the HDD ability that Neptune had appeared in front of him, "I will not fail my mission!"

In a brief flash of light Heero was standing completely covered in his multi colored armor and forced the monster back. Neptune threw her fist out, "Kick his butt, Heero!"

A set of thrusters on the wings and back flared to life and propelled Heero straight towards the Sand Worm. Heero rammed into the monster with his shield which left the monster completely helpless, Heero cut the thrusters momentarily causing the Sand Worm to collide with the wall, then pulled a white cylinder like object out of a compartment on his shield, "So I also have a beam saber…"

As the handle came out from its compartment, a glowing green light in the shape of a sword emerged from it. The series of thrusters flared to life once more and once he was close enough Heero brought the beam saber across the Sand Worm's body. Because he was attacking a soft bodied target, the saber felt little to no resistance and cut through the monster like a knife through hot butter.

Heero landed a few feet past his target, which exploded as a result of the beam weapon. The armor disappeared from around Heero and he fell to one knee, clutching his abdomen, "(…I must have reopened the wound.)"

Neptune and Compa were immediately at Heero's side once it was evident that he was hurt, "You doin' okay, Heero? Don't kick the bucket on me! We're lovers after all, so I won't allow you to die!"

"Let me check your injuries, Heero."

IF was staring at Heero from where she was, seeing him take the attack intended for her and his transformation both came as a quite a shock to her.

Xxx

After Compa had administered some more antibiotics and bandages for Heero's injury, the party left the dungeon and were now standing in a clearing with a large body of water nearby, "So basically, you're looking for Key Fragments for this… Histy person."

Neptune entered into her happy bubbly mood, "Ding-dong! Histy's sealed away somewhere in this world. She's like one of those secret optional characters."

IF crossed her arms and gathered her thoughts, "The different fragments are guarded by monsters. So, the source is really whoever the fragments to be guarded. That Histy character must have something to do with it, too. Saving the world, hmm? It could be a big fib."

"Ooh, Iffy, you're beyond keen. How can you possibly be so observant at such a tender, young age?"

Heero, who was leaning against a tree nearby, lifted his head, "It can be seen as simple logic, it becomes even more painfully evident when you consider the fact that we have not had any physical contact with her at all."

IF uncrossed her arms and let one hand rest on her hip, "Exactly. If this is all true, however, leaving it to you two… will spell doom for all humanity."

Compa looked slightly confused, "You two? What do you mean Iffy? Heero is with us and that makes three."

"I'm sure Heero could take care of himself, the problem lies with you two. As I understand it, Heero is stuck with you two… I'm surprised he hasn't gone insane yet."

IF crossed her arms once more and gave a smile, or at least something that looked like one, "No choice! I'll help. You're traveling, right? You'll need someone with you who's been to a lot of different lands."

The smile dropped from the brunette's face, "About those fragments… If they're guarded by monsters, it might be pretty easy to find them after all."

Compa had a hopeful look in her eyes, "R-Really? Then, I'm sure we'll save Histy in no time."

Heero shifted his gaze to IF, "I presume you have an idea as to how we might be able to find them?"

IF nodded at the Gundam pilot, "Basilicoms around the world have been researching monsters. I think they'll have a good idea where they spawn."

Neptune's eyes were half open as she put her finger on her cheek, "So, speaking of… what's a Basilicom again? I'm apparently an amnesiac, so I need you to explain stuff to me in a manner convenient for the readers to understand!"

Compa had an apologetic look on her face, "Be patient with her, Miss IF. She bumped her head on the ground and lost her memory. Sorry for my delayed explanation."

Compa directed her attention to Neptune, "Basilicoms are holy organizations run by those who serve the goddesses. There are two parts to a Basilicom: the Sanctuary where goddesses are cared for, and Parliament for political activities."

Heero let his gaze fall on Neptune, "Though you would remember this if you did not spend so much time thinking of food."

Neptune rubbed her stomach, a timid smile on her face, "Oh, I can't help it, Heero. I have a need for sweets!"

IF stopped Compa from continuing her explanation on the Basilicoms, "Whoa, stop. Why not let the people at the Basilicom explain it? We're headed there anyway."

Compa looked at IF quizzically, "To ask about monsters? But we don't need to do that until we go to another landmass."

"Well, we'll need a permit from the Basilicom to travel anywhere. They manage the Sky Harbors, too."

Compa seemed to understand easily enough, "Oh, I see. Then we'll continue this when we reach the Basilicom. Okay, Nep-Nep?"

Heero looked up into the sky and noticed how dark it was, "We will have to wait until tomorrow then. For now, we should look for a place to recuperate from this mission."

The three girls noticed that it was quite dark out, "Well, if you say so, Heero. Or are you just worried some psycho is gonna try and have his way with your lover?"

Heero narrowed his eyes at Neptune, "We are not lovers."

"Whatever you say… lover."

Neptune and Compa started on the way back to the city, Heero was stopped by IF just as he pushed off the tree he was using for support, "Why did you save me?"

Heero looked over his shoulder at IF, "The situation may have required all four of us to deal with the target."

IF crossed her arms, sending a questioning look at Heero, "You say that, but I wonder if that's all there is."

Heero closed his eyes to collect his thoughts, "Take it as you will… though I will say this, with your quick thinking and combat experience you're one of the best fighters I've ever seen. It would not do to see you in a weakened state."

IF's cheeks were tinged a light pink from the complement, "Y-Yeah, well, I don't need you to tell me that."

Heero redirected his attention forward and began to walk off, IF hung back and spoke in a near inaudible voice, "Still… thanks."

With the addition of IF, the party was now up to four members. With the cool, level headed brunette with them, Heero began to think that perhaps his mission wasn't going to be so difficult after all.

Xxx

Chapter 3… done. Now we've got IF in the party. I don't about those of you who read my story, but I feel like I rushed this one. If so, I promise future chapters will turn out better. Also I've set up a poll in regards to this story and I would appreciate getting as many votes on it as possible. You guys can vote by going to my profile and looking up at the top. Once more, read and comment, thanks!


	4. Return of the Sand Worm?

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or Hyperdimension Neptunia (though I wish I did.)**

My poll results are coming in, if you have not voted yet please do so, as they will help me reach the ultimate decision in regards to this story.

Expected pairings include: HeeroXNeptune/Purple Heart, HeeroXIF, HeeroXNoire/Black Heart, IFX Vert/Green Heart, IFX5pb, and IFXRed with the possibility of HeeroXCompa, HeeroXVert/Green Heart, HeeroXBlanc/White Heart and HeeroXHistoire (Again, I would like the opinion of my readers on whether or not to include these pairings.) In short, Heero/Harem (Possibly, depending on the outcome of my poll).

**Ch.4 Return of the Sand Worm…?**

It had been twenty-four hours since IF had joined the party and the group had just returned from completing an 'optional quest' as Neptune called party was resting in one of the parks located around the capital city of Planeptune after their quest was finished.

Heero was sitting on a bench typing away on his laptop, looking through the newly updated and its wares, "It seems they have new equipment available… we may be able to outfit Neptune with a new weapon." Heero looked at the aforementioned purple haired preteen, who was trying pushing the sides of her chest together, "(…What exactly is she doing?)

After a few attempts to do so, Neptune cheek puffed up, "It's not fair!" Compa was standing behind the irritated Neptune with an ice cream cone in her hands, "What's not fair, Nep-Nep?" Neptune turned around and looked at the Compa, then at her chest, and then back at her, "Compa, I have an uber huge favor to ask you!"

A quizzical look made its way onto Compa's face, "What is it?"

"Let me have your boobs!" There was complete and udder silence between the two girls. Neptune looked at the nurse-in-training with a hopeful look in her eyes, while Compa stared back at her. Heero had been listening to the conversation from the beginning, he closed his laptop, then his eyes and crossed his arms, "(Three… two… one…)"

"W-W-W-WHAT?!" Compa nearly dropped the ice cream cone in her hand as she covered her chest, "N-Nep-Nep! What do you mean let you have my boobs?"

"Because, Compa, I think Heero is into girls with a little more… up here." Neptune motioned to her chest, while Compa looked at her for a moment, "…What do you mean 'up here'?" Neptune looked slightly more irritated, "What do you mean 'what do I mean?' I'm talkin' about how Heero must like girls with titanic tatas! Massive melons! Big soft pillows! What did you think I meant?!"

IF came back from a nearby food stand with a chocolate ice cream cone in her hands, "What are you two babbling about now?" Compa turned to look at the brunette, "Nep-Nep asked me to give her my boobs!" IF alternated between looking at Compa and Neptune looking at the two of them as if they were stupid, "(…Oh wait, that's right… they ARE stupid.) If you're so self-conscience about your bust, try drinking milk. I hear it helps."

"But I want 'em now! And of all three girls in our party, Compa's are the biggest."

"Why exactly do you want bigger breasts anyway?" Neptune began to push her index fingers together, "Well, I think Heero is into girls with bigger boobs and all, so…" IF raised a questioning eyebrow, "And you would know this… how?"

The purple haired preteen rubbed the back of her head, "I don't. I'm just taking a shot in the dark here." The brunette released an agitated sigh, "Did you try asking him?" Neptune stared at IF for a moment before her lips curved into a wide grin, "That's a great idea, Iffy! I guess you really are smart after all."

IF could feel her eye twitch, "(…I should seriously kill her.)"

The moment IF said, 'Did you try asking him?' Heero reopened his laptop and pretended to look busy because it had not finished booting up yet. Despite this Neptune still walked over, "Hey, Heero. I got a question for-"

"I have no interest in answering your question in regards to what my preferences are in a women's bust size." Neptune had not even asked her question and Heero had already shot her down. Neptune walked out of Heero's peripheral vision and only once he was sure she was gone did he dare look up from his computer.

Neptune did not seem to be around and while that did give Heero relief, it also disturbed him. Heero was about to return his attention to his laptop, when suddenly his vision was almost completely white safe for some purple and he could feel a pair of hands on the back of his head, "Small boobs or big boobs?! Tell me! Tell me! TELL ME!"

Heero brought his hands up to Neptune's waist and pried the preteen off him, glaring at her once his face was free, "I would appreciate it if you would not stuff my face into your chest." Neptune's cheeks puffed up and she walked towards Compa, "It looks like Heero isn't going to answer, Nep-Nep."

Neptune looked at the strawberry ice cream cone in Compa's hands, then devoured the frozen treat in the blink of an eye, not bothering to even chew it. The nurse-in-training stared at her hands where here ice cream had been and her eyes began to fill with tears just ready to pour out, "N-Nep-Nep… y-you ate my ice cream… that wasn't very nice…"

Neptune quickly got behind Compa and began to push her toward Heero, who had just gotten comfortable in his seat, "Haaaaaaaa!" Heero looked up to see Neptune running straight at him with Compa out in front as if she was a human shield. The two girls were already so close that Heero had little time to react.

Neptune shoved Compa at the last second, causing her to land on Heero… specifically, Compa's chest landed on Heero's face. The pink haired nurse's face was blood red in an instant, meanwhile Heero was once again experiencing the strange sensation that he had been feeling ever since he meet these girls. Also, Heero thought that for a brief moment he saw an irritated look on IF's face.

Compa quickly backed away from Heero, still embarrassed by what had just transpired, "I-I-I'm s-s-sorry Heero! I d-d-didn't think Nep-Nep would do something like that!" Heero stood up from his seat and walked away, leaving his things where they were. IF watched the teen for a moment before directing her attention at Neptune, "Did that answer your question?"

Neptune was twitching slightly, "Must… have… big… boobs… must… have… now!" IF was slightly disturbed by Neptune's twitching until the preteen's stomach let out a growl, prompting her to stop twitching and rub her stomach, "But first things first, I'm hungry."

Compa stared at Neptune until she heard a voice behind her, "Compa." The nurse turned around to see Heero with a strawberry ice cream cone in his right hand. The teen held the frozen dairy treat out to Compa, "Try not to let Neptune eat it this time." Compa's cheeks were tinged a light pink as she gingerly took the ice cream from Heero, "T-Thank you… Heero."

Heero suddenly felt Neptune latch onto his arm, "Heero! Buy me some ice cream, too!" Heero looked down at the preteen clinging to his arm, "But you just ate Compa's."

"Pffft! Heero, don't you know? Food always tastes better when you receive it from your destined lover." Heero had no choice but to comply, otherwise Neptune would most likely continue to bug him until he did get her ice cream, "…Fine."

"Goodie! You can come with me and help me pick out three scoops of ice cream." As Neptune dragged Heero towards the food stand, IF balled her free hand into a fist and slowly began to crack open her wafer cone for her ice cream, "For some reason, seeing her hold him like that gets on my nerves…"

As the three girls finished their ice cream, Heero closed his laptop, "If you girls are just about done, we should depart for the Basilicom. We will need a permit in order to use the Sky Harbor and in turn, continue with our search for the Key Fragments."

Neptune leapt out of her seat, "Let's go, people! To the Basilicom!" Neptune was about to take a step forward, but suddenly stopped. A nervous drop of sweat ran down her cheek, "Uhh…" The preteen turned around to face the rest of the party, "Which way is the Basilicom?"

IF face-palmed herself, "You're hopeless. I'll lead the way, since it's obvious you would just get lost."

Xxx

With IF leading the way, the group eventually arrived at a large multi-colored structure that was surrounded by trees, and a concrete path was built around it. Neptune stared at the building, "Whoa! This's a Basilicom? It's so big and towering and pretty and stuff! But where is everyone?"

IF was looking down at the pink cell phone in her hand, "Hiding from monsters. Planeptune seems more ravaged by them compared to the other lands." The brunette stuffed her cell phone back into her pocket, "Anyway, go talk to the Basilicom's staff. They'll communicate with a different one and we'll be on our way."

Neptune grabbed Heero's hand, "Okay, then we'll be back in a jiffy!" Heero looked at the preteen who seemed to be fond of dragging him around whether she realized it or not, "'We will?'"

"Of course, Heero. The hero and the heroine always stick together, especially if they're lovers like us." IF seemed slightly irked at Neptune's decision to take Heero into the Basilicom with her, then realized just who had volunteered to go, "It actually may be a good idea for you to go with her, Heero. That way you can keep her from doing something stupid. I'll wait out here to keep Compa company. Ask them anything you want while you have the chance."

Xxx

Heero and Neptune stepped inside the large building, there were rows of pews, stained glass windows and support beams lined the walls on the left and right, and a red carpet was rolled out and lead to the other end of the room. Neptune looked around before she started shouting, "Excuse me, we wanna go to other landmasses! Is that okay?"

Heero narrowed his eyes at the preteen next to him, "Do you not know how to use an inside voice?"

"But if I did that nobody would hear us." A young man who Heero presumed was one of the Basilicom's staff approached the two, "Ah, hello. Applying for Terraportation? Could you give us your reason and how long you will be traveling for?"

Neptune assumed her thinking position, "How long? I dunno. Reason… um, to defeat monsters! We wanna travel the world and fight bad guys!"

"Admirable for one so young. Okay, so… long-term… salvage areas attacked by monsters. There," Heero had honestly thought that it would take longer to get their permit, not that he was complaining, "(Objective complete. This should make it easier to complete our mission.)"

"Or should I word it in a more vague way? Volunteer work? That'd look good on your resume." Neptune's eyes were half open as she was bored from just standing around, "I don't care, whatever. Hurry it up, our party is waiting for us!"

"Oh, you have some friends with you, hmm? Could you write their names here? …That's it. Thank you very much. Bye." After receiving the permit, Neptune was about to walk back out the door, when Heero grabbed her by the collar of her hoodie, "…Aren't you forgetting something?"

Neptune tilted her head for a moment, then her eyes widened upon realizing what Heero meant, "W-Wait! This is my first time doing this, so I dunno anything about the Basilicom. Can you tell me about it?"

The staff member turned back around, "A Basilicom novice, eh? Let me tell you a bit about our origin and give a small history lesson. Long ago, Basilicoms were created by CPUs, Console Patron Units you call goddesses. We assist them in governing the world. On the other hand, we perform missionary work to spread our beliefs. That's the gist of it. Did that help?"

Neptune scratched her cheek, "Hmm, no. Not particularly. I was expecting weird cult people here, but you guys seem normal enough."

"Well, it's different everywhere. Some Basilicoms may be construed as weird. I really shouldn't say such things, though." Heero could not tell whether Neptune was excited, weirded out or nervous, "So there are weird ones? Nice. The people, too?"

"Uh, sure. Well, why not get back to your friends? You don't want them to wait too long, after all." Neptune gave one of her cherry smiles, "Yeah, okay. Bye!" Just as they were about to leave, the staff member stopped Heero and Neptune, "By any chance, are you two close? You seem like you would make a nice couple."

Heero felt the urge to strangle the man, but restrained himself, "No, we are-" The teen stopped in mid-sentence when he felt a pair of arms wrap around his torso, "Did you hear that, Heero? Our first opinion outside of our party about our love! We are more than a couple, we're destined lovers. So, if you were thinking of trying to hook up with me sorry, but I'm already taken."

"Lovers? You must be close then." Heero narrowed his eyes at Neptune as she pulled him towards the door, "…Why do you insist on telling everyone we come across that we are lovers? We clearly are not."

"And why do you keep denying it? We're totally meant for each other, Heero!" The Basilicom staff member watched as Heero and Neptune past through the door, "Neptune. A nice name for a nice girl. That Heero guy must be pretty lucky to have a girl like her."

Xxx

After taking care of obtaining the permit for the Sky Harbor, the party took on the quest to deal with the Sand Worm as it had been causing trouble again, however Heero was unsure about the job. The party arrived inside a section of the Evil Cave, IF turned to the other three in the group, "I know I'm the newest party member, but can we get a move on and go somewhere else already?"

Neptune began to flail her arms in the air, "We can't ignore all the monsters left on Planeptune. We gotta walk this path properly, y'know?" Compa chimed in on Neptune's side, "Yeah, 'slow and steady wins the race!' Collecting Key Fragments is important, but we can't leave troubled people alone!"

Heero crossed his arms, "While I concur with IF on the idea of going to a new landmass, my mission is to assist Neptune. I will go along with whatever she chooses for our course of action." Neptune threw a fist in the air, "You hear that, Iffy? It's three against one!" The brunette's eye twitched for a moment, "Were it not for the fact that Heero has to babysit you, it would two votes both ways."

The group made their way into the cave, which looked similar to the cave from the previous day, even the layout looked the same. After walking towards the intersection, they found that at least something was different… the monsters. On the left path were two pink bunny like creatures with only two legs and long tails that bobbed left and right.

The strange tag displayed the name of the monsters as being 'Killer Rabbit', Heero armed his GN sword, "…The monsters here just get more and more strange." Before Heero could assume a combat stance, Compa and IF were already in front of him, "Let us take care of this, Heero."

"You'll be our… secret weapon." The teen crossed his arms and the hybrid weapon vanished, "Do as you will." Compa and IF had determined looks on their faces, not because of the battle, but because they had overheard what the Basilicom staff member had said about Neptune and Heero being a cute couple, "(Nep-Nep has been such a Heero hog lately, I bet Heero and I could be just as cute of a couple!)"

"(There's no way I'm gonna lose to Neptune…)" The two girls were emitting a very powerful aura and the monsters must have been able to sense it, as they had started sweating bullets. The two girls walked towards the two Killer Rabbits, pulling out their weapons as they drew closer. The monsters could not move, as if their feet had been nailed in place.

The moment IF and Compa were in front of the monsters, only one thought went through their minds… and it was the exact same thought, "(The best way to get Heero's attention… is by beating these monsters myself!)" Thus, the fight began. Neptune stared awe-struck, while Heero's eyes widened in surprise, as what was supposed to be a fight was instead a one-sided massacre, "I don't think I've ever seen a syringe get used like that."

"…Nor have I seen a soft bodied animal leave such a large crater upon impact… and when the point impact was barely more than two feet away…" After the… 'battle' was over, Compa and IF returned to their fellow party members, "What did you think, Heero? Have I gotten stronger?"

Compa's eyes were full of hope, Heero looked from the nurse-in-training to the monsters, and back, "Is that a rhetorical question? You may be stronger than Neptune now." Compa looked down at her feet, her cheeks slowly turned pink, "D-Do you really think so?" Heero merely nodded, "I would say the same for IF, but to be brutally honest, it does not take much to be stronger than Neptune right now."

IF crossed her arms and averted her eyes from Heero, as with Compa, her cheeks were slowly turning pink, "W-Well, I haven't been traveling alone because I'm weak." Inwardly, the two girls were satisfied. They had obviously gotten Heero's attention and 'scored points' with him in the process. Neptune had an annoyed look on her face, "Hey, what do you mean it doesn't take much to be stronger than me right now? I'm plenty strong!"

"And you use a wooden sword as your weapon." Neptune found it difficult to argue with that, "…Well, they haven't had any swords on sale, what am I supposed to use?" Heero was willing to give her that one, Neptune could not get a new sword when AMAZOO wasn't even selling any at this time, "To your credit, your transformation is easily our most powerful asset. So while you don't have a new weapon, it does make you the strongest of all four of us when used."

Neptune stuck her tongue out, "Ha! Did you hear that? Heero said I'm the strongest!" IF wore an irritated look on her face, "He also said 'when' you transform. Without it, you're the weakest here."

"If we are done, we should continue with our search for the target." The party made their way deeper into the cave. They had not encountered any monsters along the way, the only possible explanation would be that the monsters had saw what had become of their comrades at the hands of Compa and IF, and did not dare show themselves for fear of sharing a similar fate.

Since the layout of the dungeon was similar to the section of the Evil Cave the group had been the day before, it did not take them long to find the other end of the cave. Once they reached the back, the Sand Worm was waiting on front of a room, "There's the boss from yesterday. Let's kick his butt and get oodles of experience points!"

Heero could not put his finger on it, but something felt wrong to him. Nevertheless, the group came out from behind the curved wall and ran straight at the large insect. Since no real plan was needed, each member of the team moved and attacked as they saw fit, it had only been about thirty, maybe forty second into the battle when Heero noticed something was off, "This enemy is hardly putting up a fight… this is far too easy in comparison to our last battle."

The Sand Worm fell in under a minute, having breathed its last. Neptune struck a victory pose, "Am I, like, super strong? That was easy." IF crossed her arms as she looked at the defeated enemy, "That was easier than last time. Maybe it was just weaker than before."

Neptune noticed the room behind the monster and her curiosity began to take hold, "Let's go check out that room! Maybe we'll find an awesome rare item." Heero, Compa and IF followed after the purple haired preteen as she ran into the wide room. After a quick look around, the party found nothing, which disappointed Neptune, "There could have been at least something in here, like maybe another boss or something."

Suddenly, the room was filled with the melodramatic laughter of an unknown individual, "Haaaah ha ha ha! I've found you, Neptune. I didn't think you actually fell to the world below!" Neptune and the others looked around the room for the source of the voice, "Who's there? What's with that melodramatic laugh…?"

The unknown individual appeared in front of the party, it was a woman with a very big witch's hat with a golden leaf and a purple rose with thorns spiraling around it, slanted cat-like blood red eyes, pale gray-white skin and short purple hair that looked like Neptune's; only her hair was very slanted and some of it framed her right cheek.

Her outfit could be considered as very flashy in terms of design, it consisted of a bustier like top with thick strings looping through holes in it and traveled up the center of the bustier, unattached sleeves and rather long, claw-like nails. The outfit was very gothic, mostly black with only hints of purple.

The woman seemed to be quite angry with Neptune's remark, "Don't mock my snickering! Pushing people's buttons… You've not changed a it. Makes it easier for me to desire your demise. Brace yourself!" Neptune was very confused, while Heero armed his GN Sword, "Target acquired, eliminating."

The party armed themselves, as the strange women was clearly not hear to chat or be nice… she was after Neptune. Heero and IF ran straight at the woman, while Compa continuously fired at the unknown individual. She was able to block most of the bullets with her glaive, then readied herself for Heero and IF.

Their attacks collided with the glaives shaft and were able to force her back, but that did not deter the stranger in the least, "Out of my way! I'm going to finish Neptune." The woman had somehow been able to get past Heero and IF, moving straight towards Neptune with incredible speed, "Dammit…"

Neptune blocked the attack aimed at her with the wooden sword in her hands, but that was about all she could do in her current situation… even Compa could not do anything, as she was sure it may end up hurting Neptune in the process, "Accept your fate, Neptune!"

Just as Neptune's guard was about to be broken, Heero came running at the woman with the GN Sword in Rifle Mode. The bursts of beam shots forced the woman to pull back, while none of Heero's shots had hit he did not expect them to, he was just aiming to get the woman away from Neptune. Heero knelt down next to Neptune, "Have you sustained any injuries?"

"No… but she's pretty strong." Neptune's assailant came back for a second attempt to get Neptune, Heero wrapped his free arm around the preteen's waist and evaded the attack, which made a crater in the ground. The woman was after Heero and Neptune in no time, and Heero would not be able to outrun her while carrying Neptune.

Heero dropped Neptune on the ground behind him and readied himself for the stranger. While Heero was successful in blocking her attack, he could not move from where he was without subjecting Neptune to the risk of being attacked, meanwhile the woman laughed at Heero's predicament, "Not bad… for a human. Now, either move out of the way or die along with Neptune!"

Neptune looked up to see Heero locked in a stalemate with the woman who wanted to kill her, "…Are you finished?" The gothic woman was slowly getting angry with the teen in front of her, "What?!"

"My mission is to assist Neptune, for the sake of my mission I am prepared to sacrifice my life." Neptune's eyes widened at Heero's words.

Xxx

"_Come on, Heero. You just keep talking about 'the mission', what mission is soooo important that you would do stuff like that?"_

_Heero closed his eyes for a moment to collect his thoughts, then reopened them, "My mission is to assist you in any way I can. In other words, YOU are my mission, Neptune."_

Xxx

Neptune sat motionless, just looking at Heero. He had said once before that she was his mission, and now he had just said he would sacrifice himself to protect her, "Heero…"

"Fine. Then you can die along with her!" Neptune shot up to her feet and stomped her foot, "That's it! No more Mr. Nice Neptune! I'm not about to let you kill my destined lover, missy!" The gothic woman stared incredulously at Neptune, "Destined… lover…?"

Neptune held out her hand, where her HDD disk appeared in a stream of 1s and 0s, then pulled the disk in front of her chest, "Traaaaaansform!" The stranger grimaced as Neptune underwent her transformation, "Damn, I was hoping to get rid of her before THIS happened."

The stronger, more mature and serious Neptune was standing in-between Heero and her assailant, having forced her back, and she did not look happy, "No one threatens Heero in front of me." The unknown woman pointed her glaive at the twin braided swordstress, "Don't tell me you have feeling for him. If so, then I may just have to kill him first if only to see you-"

Before she could get another word out, Neptune had brought her sword across the gothic woman's' stomach, sending her back a considerable distance and into a wall, "Did you not hear me the first time? No one… threatens Heero… in front of me." The stranger emerged from the rubble holding her stomach, "She's kicking me all over the place…"

"Heero." Neptune glanced over her shoulder at the teen behind her, "I need your help to finish her." Heero nodded at Neptune, "Very well." Heero's HDD disk appeared in front of him, and after the familiar flash of light subsided, Heero was covered in his multi colored armor. The strange woman looked on in shock, "What the- How can he transform?!"

Heero held out his Buster Rifle and fired, a large beam of intense beam energy shot out from the barrel and was heading towards the woman dressed like a witch, "Do you really think I'll stand here and let you hit me with that?!" Before the woman could move, Neptune was already behind her, "Do you really think I'll let you dodge it?"

Neptune's sword made contact with the woman's back and sent her straight towards the golden yellow beam, which completely engulfed her. Several explosions erupted around the strange woman as she took the full force of the attack until the blast of thermal energy dissipated. She picked herself up off the ground and was able to stand… barely, "Damn it all. You don't even look like you exercise, so why? Tch, that's right… this is Planeptune… It's your home turf, Neptune. But it won't be like this next time. Don't forget my words!"

Compa and IF watched as the mysterious woman took off, and IF looked peeved, "What the hell? She came out of nowhere, threw a hissy fit, and left. She must be menstruating or something."

Neptune made her way towards Heero, who had reverted back to his normal self, "I fail to see why you needed my help in dealing with her." Neptune stopped in front of Heero and gave him a small smile, "I'm sure you can figure it out, Heero."

Neptune quickly strode past the Heero, as she did, Heero felt something soft against his cheek and then warm air against his ear, "(I'm flattered that you would sacrifice yourself for me…)" Heero turned in the direction Neptune was heading, and was suddenly mesmerized by the sway of her hips. Heero forced himself to focus on the task at hand, returning to the city, procuring supplies and finding a location to spend the night… while trying not to think of what he just did.

Neptune kept moving towards the exit. Her cheeks were slightly pink, as she had saw Heero looking at her after she passed by him. The swordstress stifled a giggle, then returned her attention in front of her.

Xxx

Chapter 4 is now done. What did you guys think of this one? Those who have played Hyperdimension Neptunia know who was after Neptune in this chapter. Also, more competition between the girls. Please vote in my poll if you have not done so already. Anyways, read and review, thanks!


	5. Bonus Chapter

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or Hyperdimension Neptunia (though I wish I did.)**

In honor of the holidays I have decided to make a Christmas Special for this story. Please note it will not follow the story like the other chapters and was created for the holidays, but should add some good laughs to it anyway. Hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed coming up with it. Read and comment, thank you and Happy Holidays!

Bonus Chapter: Christmas Special! Operation: Get Heero under the Mistletoe!

Heero was sitting on a park bench in Planeptune typing away on his laptop, when he noticed a small white, fluffy object fall down onto the back of his hand. The Gundam pilot looked down at the object, which turned into water shortly after it landed, Heero looked up into the sky to see more white objects falling from the sky, "Hey, it's snowing!"

Heero looked over his shoulder to see Neptune looking up at the sky with a big smile on her face. Compa and IF also watched as the snow fell down upon them, "This is pretty rare, normally it only snows in Lowee." Neptune threw her arms around Heero's neck, "Y'know, Heero, Christmas is a day for lovers… so why don't we spend it together? It'll be great! We'll eat some yummy food, beat up monsters and level up, tell bad jokes-"

Heero closed his laptop and stood up, forcing Neptune to let go of him, "…I have some business I must take care of." Heero walked away, leaving the three girls by themselves. IF looked over at the party's energetic leader, "Food, fighting and terrible jokes? How is that anyway to spend Christmas?"

Neptune's cheeks puffed up as she turned to the other two female party members, "What I was really gonna say was that we should get under a mistletoe and kiss! …Though I was serious about the food." Compa tilted her head, her curiosity could clearly be seen in her eyes, "How would you do it? I doubt Heero is just going to step under a mistletoe if you ask."

A grin made its way onto Neptune's face, "Cause you two are gonna help!" IF cocked an eyebrow, "We are? Why should we help you?" Neptune put her hands on her hips and actually looked like she was thinking… which was quite surprising, "Because… I'll let both of you kiss Heero if you help… but only once!"

IF's face slowly turned red, "W-What makes you think I wanna k-kiss him?!"

"C'mon Iffy, it's been pretty obvious that you've gotten all hot for my destined lover. And don't you know? When people kiss on Christmas, they wake up with the guy they kissed and find out that they did the thing! That's our adult rated scene!" IF's entire face looked like one big cherry from how red it was, "W-W-WHAT?!"

IF began to daydream about what would happen if this plan of Neptune's actually worked.

Xxx

_IF was standing in front of Heero, who was standing underneath a sprig of mistletoe, "H-Heero… do you know what you're standing under?" Heero wore his normally emotionless façade, "I know. I am here because I have been waiting for you."_

_IF seemed slightly surprised, "You were… waiting for me?" Before she knew, Heero had already wrapped one arm around IF's waist and pulled her towards him. IF averted her gaze from Heero, "H-Heero…"_

_The teenager cupped IF's chin with his free hand and turned towards his face, IF could see the intensity in Heero's eyes as he slowly closed the distance between their faces, "Ahhh…."_

Xxx

Steam was rising out of IF's head as she continued to daydream about both herself and Heero under the mistletoe. She finally snapped out of her reverie of thought, "…F-Fine. I-I'll help." Neptune grabbed onto one of Compa and IF's arms, "Alright! C'mon you two, we got stuff to do!"

The preteen dragged both girls after her, not knowing that Heero had been close by and heard what she had said.

Xxx

Neptune, Compa and IF were sitting at a table inside of a fast-food restaurant with a map of Planeptune in the middle of the table… a map that Neptune made… a map that was surprisingly detailed, "Okay, Heero has been moving around a whole lot, but he's been in the same area. So, we all need to wait right around here, here, and here."

Neptune pointed to three spots on the map around the center of the city, "Now, it'd be super-hard to just get Heero under a mistletoe, so we're just gonna have to carry some with us. Any questions?" IF raised her hand, "Yeah, Iffy?"

"Why are you never this productive when it comes to completing quests?" Neptune tilted her head, "…Run that by me again?" IF motioned to the map on the table, "This is more work than I've ever seen you do. Why are you only now working this hard?"

Neptune's eyes were burning with determination, "Because I'm doing this to get a kiss from my one true love, Iffy!" The preteen pulled a sprig of mistletoe out from her hoodie pocket, "Make sure to have yours on you when you find Heero."

Xxx

Neptune and her two partners in crime arrived at three different locations around the center of the city, Neptune spoke into a walkie-talkie in her hands, "This is Heero's Lover, do you read me, Sitting Duck?"

Compa's voice came over the handheld device, "(How come you get the name Heero's Lover and I'm Sitting Duck?)"

"Pffft! That's a dumb question. I'm Heero's destined lover, so of course I'm gonna use it as my codename. How 'bout you, No-chest? How you holding up?"

IF's voice boomed over the device, "(WHAT THE HELL'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!)"

"Well, you don't really have a chest, Iffy."

"(And you do?! Last I checked, you were almost as flat as the ground! And besides, you can't see my chest when I'm wearing clothes!)" Neptune seemed irritated, "What'cha doin' looking at me?! I at least have something up there!"

Compa's voice came over the walkie-talkie, "(Nep-Nep, I see Heero. He's standing in front of a vendor.)" Neptune and IF stopped bickering and observed their target. Heero pulled a water bottle out from the vendor and placed it into his backpack.

Neptune's eyes burned with a determination greater than before, "Alright ladies! Commence operation: Get Heero under the Mistletoe!" Neptune, Compa and IF put away the communication devices and began to converge on Heero. As Heero began to walk away from the vendor, he detected movement from three locations, "…Two in front… and one behind me…"

Heero discovered that the movement was Neptune, Compa and IF, all three of which were moving straight towards him, "(I cannot allow them to follow me…)" The three girls were getting quite close, just as they were about to pull out the mistletoe in their pockets, Heero jumped over the nearby guardrail.

Neptune and the others looked over to see Heero standing up and walking away into the crowd, IF watched Heero in disbelief, "That had to be at least a three story drop…" Neptune quickly began to run after Heero, though following a different path, "Come on you guys, we're gonna lose him!"

Neptune, Compa and IF searched the city of Planeptune for Heero, whenever they would find him he would skillfully evade them or outrun them with ease. The sky quickly grew dark and the girls' efforts had been for nothing, all three of them were sitting on a park bench, "I didn't think catching Heero and gettin' a smooch from him would be so hard…"

IF glanced over at Neptune, slightly irritated, "You never think at all." Compa was sitting on the end of the bench looking very disheartened, "Nothing we do seems to work… how are we supposed to get Heero under the mistletoe?"

IF crossed her arms and played back the events of their failed attempts to get Heero under the plant that would make him kiss them, "Did either of you find out anything interesting while we were following Heero?"

A wide grin made its way onto Neptune's face, "You betcha! Did you know that if you hug an Ostrich hard enough it sounds just like a bagpipe?"

IF facepalmed herself, "No you idiot. I mean did you notice where Heero was going and the stores he went into?"

"Nope, not really. Why you ask?" IF slapped Neptune upside her head, "You're hopeless. Anyway, break times over, time to get back to work."

Xxx

Neptune, Compa and IF returned to the hotel the party was staying at, disheartened and completely exhausted from their day filled with failed attempts at kissing Heero, "Aww, I just wanted to kiss my lover, was that too much to ask for…?"

IF was dragging her feet across the floor, "I would say we could try again tomorrow… but Christmas day is the last day that you can use a mistletoe to get a guy to kiss you and it will probably end just as badly as it did today."

Compa eyes were glossy and looked like she was about to cry, "Maybe it just wasn't meant to be…"

Once they had returned to their room, they set up the mistletoes around the room, one over the small Christmas tree near the window, one over the chair next to the fireplace, and one over the doorway. Once the task had been completed, they went to bed, too tired to try another plan to get Heero under the mistletoe.

Xxx

The next morning when three girls woke up, they saw even more snow outside the window than the previous day. Compa looked under the small tree and let out a small squeal, "Nep-Nep! Iffy! Look!"

The two girls looked at the tree and saw presents under it, "Ooh! Santa left us presents!" There were three presents under the tree, one for each of the girls. The girls immediately tore into the presents, eager to see what was inside.

Compa had received a stuffed teddy bear with a pink ribbon tied around its left ear, IF had gotten a wireless cell phone charger, and Neptune had received a new portable game console, "This is so awesome! How can it get any better than this?!"

"You are finally up." Neptune, Compa and IF looked over at the doorway to see Heero walking in, "I don't see any presents here for you Heero, were you a bad boy this year?" IF gave Neptune a karate chop to the head, "Moron! Remember when I aske if you guys had noticed the stores Heero had gone to while we were after him? He was the one who got us these gifts."

As Heero made his way over to the three girls, Compa noticed that the teen was standing under the mistletoe she had put up, "I apologize if they are not to your liking, I had no information to go on for what you would find to be an acceptable gift."

"Umm… H-Heero…"

Heero looked at Compa, who was shuffling around slightly, "What is it?"

The nurse-in-training stood in front of Heero, her face was noticeably red, she took a deep breath and exhaled, then quickly stood on her toes and pecked Heero on the lips. The Perfect Soldiers eyes widened briefly while Compa began to look at the floor, "M-Merry Christmas… Heero."

Neptune and IF shot dirty looks at Compa, "Why did you kiss him, Compa? You tryin' to score points with him?"

"But Heero was standing underneath the mistletoe I put up."

Both girls looked up to see the plant, however Heero recovered from the kiss in time to move away from the tree so the other two wouldn't kiss him, "…You planned this, didn't you?"

Heero walked over to the chair next to the fireplace, where IF caught sight of her mistletoe and smirked. IF walked over and stood in front of Heero, who looked up at the brunette, "Do you need something?"

IF pointed up, and when Heero saw the mistletoe she was quick to give him a kiss before he could react. Once more, Heero was surprised by how bold the girls were, IF immediately turned around after kissing the teen so he would not see her face, "I-I didn't do it cause I wanted to! I-I had to... it's the rule during Christmas." She would never admit it, but inwardly, IF felt like she was in heaven.

Heero began to question whether the girls had planned this trap for him and decided it would be beast to leave the room. Neptune saw Heero heading for the door, and while her sprig of mistletoe was there, if she did not get to him before he opened the door she would miss her chance.

Neptune immediately grabbed her HDD disk and transformed, giving her the speed she needed to overtake Heero and get in front of the door before he got to it first. The twin braided swordstress crossed her arms and smirked, as she was sure Heero could see the plant above her, "The only way you are going to leave this room is by kissing me, Heero. And you have to do it willingly."

Heero narrowed his eyes at Neptune, "(They must have planned this…) If I do, will you move?"

"Of course." Heero saw little he could do, other than give in to Neptune's demand. The teen put his hands on Neptune's hips, pulled her towards him and kissed her, trying to be as convincing as possible.

Neptune had one hand on Heero's back, the other was on the back of his head. A few seconds afterward, Heero felt something enter his mouth and swiftly pulled back from Neptune, narrowing his eyes at her, "You said kiss, not shove your tongue down my throat."

Neptune let out a sigh, "Heero, it's what lovers do. Now, come with me." Neptune grabbed Heero's hand and pulled him out the door, leaving Compa and IF by themselves, "What do you think Nep-Nep is going to do with Heero?"

"Probably get him to buy her ice cream or some other kind of sugary sweet food."

Xxx

Neptune had placed a blindfold over Heero's eyes shortly after they left the hotel, and was still pulling on his arm, "I realize it's last minute, but I wanted to give you something, Heero."

"I do not require anything as of this time. We should head back to our room." Neptune obviously was not listening as she was still pulling on his arm. After about three minutes of being pulled on, Neptune let go of Heero's arm. He was about to take off his blindfold when Neptune caught him reaching for it, "Don't take it off just yet."

Heero was slightly irritated, but did as he was instructed. He could hear the rustling of clothes, and could feel the snow all around him. Then he heard Neptune's voice once again, "Okay… you can take it off now."

Heero removed the piece of cloth, and when he did his eyes noticeably widened. Neptune was standing in front of Heero and she was not wearing her bodysuit, aside from the object wrapped around her torso and her boots or armor or whatever they were that Heero still could not figure exactly what they were, Neptune was naked.

The only thing covering up her breasts and precious… unmentionable spot was the long purple ribbon tied around her. Neptune had slight difficulty looking at Heero's face, most likely because of how embarrassed she was, Heero turned around so he was not facing Neptune, "…What is this?"

"I told you I wanted to give you something, Heero. I'm your Christmas present." Heero was feeling very strange right now, it was the same strange sensation he had felt after meeting the girls he was traveling with, but the previous times he had felt it were not quite this strong, "…I do not need anything."

Neptune slowly walked up to Heero, who still had his back to her, "Are you embarrassed, Heero? How cute."

The purple haired swordstress turned Heero around and pressed her chest up against Heero's, "Heero, I feel a little cold."

Heero wanted to tell her to just put her bodysuit back on, but for some strange reason did not want her to put it back on either, "(What is wrong with me?)" Heero wanted to look at Neptune without her bodysuit, but did not want to either. Neptune could see Heero's internal struggle in his eyes and her lips curved into a seductive smile, "You can unwrap and play with me as much as you want, Heero."

"I am… unfamiliar with this feeling…" Neptune pulled Heero's head into her chest, "Are you scared of it? If you are, I will help you with it… just as you have helped me." The purple haired swordstress lightly pecked Heero on the lips before letting her head rest on Heero's shoulder, "Merry Christmas, Heero."

The Gundam pilot allowed himself to wrap his arms around Neptune's body and held her close while the snow continued to fall around them, "...Merry Christmas... Neptune."

Xxx

I wanted this Christmas Special to be short and sweet, but still give you some laughs and hope you enjoyed the ending to this special. Like it says at the top, this does not follow the story and is something I came up with for the holidays. I have considered removing it and revising this story to include the other fiery females from Hyperdimension Neptunia, but I will only do so if my readers want me to. Read and review, and Happy Holidays!


	6. Lastation, land of Black Regality

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or Hyperdimension Neptunia (though I wish I did.)**

This is the second half of my Christmas present to all of you on , the only reason I was able to bust out two updates simultaneously is because the Christmas Special did not follow the story, so I was able to freely come up with the chapter, and I have a copy of Hyperdimension Neptunia with a clear game file (but I'm sure you all already had that figured out) so I was able to play through it with my high level characters and follow the story and apply my changes to the story from there. Read and review. Again, Happy Holidays!

Expected pairings include: HeeroXNeptune/Purple Heart, HeeroXIF, HeeroXNoire/Black Heart, IFX Vert/Green Heart, IFX5pb, and IFXRed, HeeroXCompa, HeeroXVert/Green Heart, HeeroXBlanc/White Heart, HeeroXNisa, HeeroX5pb, and HeeroXHistoire. In short, Heero/Harem (Now confirmed as a must have for the story. Heero is getting his harem!)

**Ch. 5 Lastation, Land of Black Regality**

The party was standing in front of what IF said was the Sky Harbor, the structure looked like a relatively long tunnel. Neptune was out in front of the group examining a split in the ground while Heero was checking his laptop, IF was on her cell phone and Compa was just smiling… like she always did, "Ooh, look, the ground is split here! Did this happen during some great war from long, long ago?! I betcha it was a totally crazy, epic war between some profound sort of darkness and a really great light!"

IF looked up from her cell phone and sent a questioning gaze towards Neptune, "…What's she babbling about now?" Compa was looking at Neptune with sympathy in her eyes, "I'm sorry. Please be patient with her. She really doesn't remember anything… I think."

IF put away her pink cell phone and crossed her arms as she directed her attention at Compa, "Right. Hearing that from a nurse-in-training is reassuring. How long have you known her?"

"A few days. I found her stuck in the ground, so I pulled her out and treated her wounds. I also found Heero that same day, his injuries weren't as bad, but I still took care of him anyway." IF's looked at the pink haired nurse in disbelief, "S-Stuck in the ground? You pulled her out? So, Neptunes grow in the ground around here. How can I believe that?"

Compa smiled at the brunette, "Well, yes, but not from the ground. She fell from the sky and got stuck in the ground after, Miss IF."

"Huh? Oh, it's been bugging me, but you call me 'Miss.' You don't have to be so formal, but… anyway, you said you found Heero along with her? Don't tell me he fell from the sky too." Compa shook her head, "No, Heero happened to be where Nep-Nep fell." Heero closed his laptop and narrowed his eyes as he looked at Neptune, "She fell on top of me… it is also one of the reasons she believes we are lovers."

Neptune shouted back to the party, "Heero, Compa, Iffy, hurry up! The view is stupendous from here. You guys scared? Hah, I bet you are. I'm so brave!"

IF was more than a little irked, "I don't like her being overly friendly with me. I feel like she doesn't quite understand her place beneath me."

Heero, Compa and IF joined up with Neptune, who looked slightly confuse, "Nep-Nep, this is the Sky Harbor area, where two landmasses come in contact with one another. It doesn't really mean the ground is split."

"Oh, I see. So how do I cross over? Should I jump? Should I shout, 'wahoo!' as I do it?"

IF snickered at the preteen, "Why not slap on some overalls and a red hat while you're at it? Actually, we use a bridge to cross over."

The brunette stopped snickering and gave something like a smile, "We needed the Basilicom's permit to get the bridge lowered. Now we can use it anytime."

Heero put his laptop away and adjusted his backpack, "Before we leave, it would be wise to consider stocking up on supplies."

Neptune and Compa took off back towards the city, leaving Heero and IF behind. Heero stopped next to IF, his gaze focused on the city, "IF."

The brunette looked at the teen next to her, "What is it? Best make it quick, so we can catch up to those two and keep them out of trouble."

"As you are no doubt aware, I am not from this world. I have no knowledge of the landmasses outside of Planeptune, I do not know if Neptune has traveled outside of Planeptune, and even if she has she has no memory, and Compa has clearly spent her life here. As such, I'm counting on you to act as our guide once we depart, I cannot ask this of anyone else."

IF swallowed hard, her cheeks slowly turning red, "Uhh… r-right, sure."

Heero began to walk off after the two girls who had already left, meanwhile IF had retreated into her thoughts, "(Heero is… counting on me…?)"

The brunette lightly slapped the sides of her face, "…Get a grip girl."

IF followed after Heero, who was still within eyesight.

Xxx

As the party went around town to gather items that were deemed essential, Compa caught sight of a dump truck, "A big truck? Is it recycling day?"

Something on the back of the truck caught Neptune's eye, "There's something funky on it. Looks kinda like furniture, but I've never seen nothin' like it. Nope, no sir!"

Heero examined the object, "If I am not mistaken, this is a jukebox."

IF examined the antique, "Yeah, I guess it's sort of a rare sight."

As she looked at the jukebox, IF's hand gently brushed against Heero's, the brunette immediately moved her hand away and was blushing at the physical contact. Neptune tilted her head, "A jukebox? What's that?"

Heero glanced at Neptune, "It is a machine designed to play music, though money is required in order to operate it."

IF looked through the glass on the front of the music player, "There's a stack of records inside."

Compa gazed at the records stored within the jukebox, "Records? Those things made with vinyl? I bet Mr. Jukebox is a real antique."

The party heard the voice of an elder man behind them, "…That is correct."

The group turned towards the elderly man and Compa gave a small bow, "Oops, sorry. We didn't mean to distract you or anything."

"Don't worry about that. I was just about to take a break, anyway."

Neptune looked between the jukebox and the elderly man, "Is the jukebox broken?"

"Yes. I can no longer find parts to fix it with. Useless products will just get thrown away… Much like this company. Even if its business was founded on the sales of jukeboxes."

IF looked at the old man quizzically, "Huh? I thought this was a… game company?"

"You may not know, but several game companies got their start by selling jukeboxes around here."

"Oh. Interesting."

The old man let out a sigh, "…Youths back then found the loves of their lives dancing to the music this old thing played."

Compa had a starry eyed look in her eyes, "How romantic! It's like a musical cupid!"

"Right. I should get going. Feel free to stop by if you're in the mood for classic rock n' roll."

Neptune just off-handedly replied to the elder man, "Okay!"

"Of course, if this thing ever gets fixed… I'm sure it will be right when you forget it even exists. Farewell."

Compa could not help but feel a little sad as the old man walked away, "…I bet he danced with his lover to that jukebox's music, too."

Heero closely examined the oversized music player, then removed its back panel. Neptune watched as Heero began to reach into the jukebox, "What'cha doing, Heero?"

"The jukebox is not broken. The culprit is poorly maintained electrical wires."

Heero twisted a few of the wires so that electricity would course through them. He randomly picked a song from the selection and the jukebox began to fill the air with music. The three girls listened to the music as Heero got off the back of the truck, "Hey, you fixed it Heero! But why?"

IF crossed her arms and smiled, "Maybe he did it because he felt bad for the old man."

Heero began to walk away, "Believe what you will, I fixed it on a whim."

Heero suddenly felt Neptune's arms around his waist, "You try to act all tough and silent and cool, but you're so sweet!"

Heero mentally sighed, "Are we done here? We must finish preparations for our departure."

The party continued on with their previous task of gathering supplies, while the jukebox slowly began to garner the attention of other passerby.

Xxx

As the group continued to gather the items they would need before their Terraportation, they arrived at an industrial section of the city. IF crossed her arms as they continued on, "Seems we're entering an industrial district. Look, they're loading up a truck."

Neptune watched the employees who were loading said truck, "Oh, yeah. The boxes are getting moved on a conveyer belt and people are loading them onto the truck by hand. The boxes are in different shapes… and each is a different color… It's probably tough to organize all the boxes to fit neatly in the truck."

Heero watched the employees with an emotionless expression on his face, "It is not as hard as you think it is."

IF noticed that the employees were adjusting the boxes, "Check it out! They're turning the boxes so they can stack them without any gaps in between them. That's quite a skill."

Compa was watching intently and noticed a gap in the truck, "Oh, but they've left a long, thin gap on one end of the truck. How will they fill it?!"

Heero could not believe these girls were getting so worked up over such simple work, meanwhile Neptune was looking on with the same intensity as Compa, "If they leave it there, the other boxes are gonna be all wobbly and stuff."

"Hmm. A thin, long, blue box is next. It… It fits perfectly! The men are high-fiving and saying something like 'Detris!'"

Neptune pumped her arms, "Amazing!"

Heero pinched the bridge of his nose, "(What I find amazing is how you three can be so easily distracted by something like… this.)"

Compa suddenly sounded as though she had remembered something, "Oh! Oh, oh, oh!"

Neptune looked over at the pink haired nurse, "…What?"

"This company's the one who made the popular puzzle game with the falling objects."

Neptune's eye lit up in fascination, "Oh, I getcha. Even their loading crew are masters at it!"

IF crossed her arms, "I doubt that's got anything to do with it…"

Xxx

While they continued to look for more supplies, Heero had finally been able to find a new sword for Neptune with a large metal blade and handle and the rest of the sword was purple… unfortunately for Neptune, Heero had to confiscate it as she had started to swing it around every which way and was becoming a hazard to the people around her, stating that he would give it back once they were in a combat environment.

As the party traveled down one particular street, a barrel came flying through the air and passed by Compa's head, "Whoa! What's happening? A barrel just flew past my head!"

IF looked back at the barrel, "What the hell is this?"

Compa pointed her finger down the street, "O-Over there! Those tough-looking people are… destroying a pile of barrels…"

IF just stared at the group of people, "Huh? Why?"

Neptune looked down the other side of the street, "Lookit the other side! Those road pugilists are destroying cheap, boxy cars with their bare hands! I think they're martial artists… from all around the world. Oh, here comes a new challenger!"

IF wanted to leave… now, "…Let's not get involved. Stop staring."

Unfortunately for IF, Neptune was not listening, "Oh, there's a cute Chinese girl with really monstrous thighs over there!"

"I just told you to stop staring. Let's go."

Neptune continued to watch, "Whoa, a sumo wrestler, too! I've never seen one in real life…!"

Once the girls remembered what they were supposed to be doing, they looked around for Heero… only to find that he was already several blocks away from them, "H-Hey! Wait for us, Heero!"

Xxx

After their supplies had been gathered, the group 'Terraported' to the nearest landmass. The bridge, while resembling the dungeons they had been in in some way, was relatively shorter in comparison.

Once they reached the exit, the group came out of the bridge and onto the landmass. Upon arriving in the city, the first thing Heero noticed was the poor quality of the air, meanwhile Neptune was looking around with fascination in her eyes, "Wow, this place is all steampunky and spiffy and futuristic! Iffy, which landmass is this?"

IF was looking down at her pink cell phone while addressing the preteen's question, "Lastation, ruled by the Console Patron Unit Black Heart. The land is mostly obscured by industrial factories."

Heero looked up into the sky, the clouds were relatively dark with smoke, "That might explain why the air quality is so poor."

Neptune went into her thinking position, "So, um, does the 'theme' of each landmass match with that goddess' preferences?"

IF closed her eyes and gathered her thoughts, "I don't think so. The CPUs are here to protect us, but humans develop the civilization itself."

"Aw, that's so realistic. Compa, what are your thoughts on this place?"

Compa looked around at the buildings surrounding them, "These factories and chimneys… remind me of an industrial revolution. I'm not familiar with this kind of thing."

IF crossed her arms, "I suppose it's not appealing to mainstream girls. I think it's cool. Anyway, let's go to the Basilicom."

Xxx

The party arrived at the Basilicom and it was surrounded by trees just like the Basilicom they had visited on Planeptune. Neptune of course started shouting in order to get a Basilicom staff members' attention, "Um, 'scuse me! I wanna get some information on monsters. May I come in?"

Heero crossed his arms and closed his eyes, "…Sometimes I find myself wondering if she can be any more annoying."

IF snickered at the comment, "Careful, she may just turn out to be more annoying."

A man came out of the Basilicom with attention directed towards Neptune, "Monsters? What're you going to do with this information?"

Compa decided to answer the question in the event that Neptune would answer with a completely random comment, "We're searching for an item called a Key Fragment. We must defeat a strong monster to get one."

"Defeat monsters? Don't be foolish. Even the Lastation Defense Force doesn't stand a chance against them. You're nothing more than children. Go home!"

Compa had a tear in her right eye, "Y-You shouldn't judge us by our appearances. We've defeated lots and lots of monsters already."

Compa had a serious look on her face, which was rare. "Nep-Nep and Heero can transform and become really super strong. We'll show you!"

"Transform? What're you rabbling about? If you want to play magical girls, go somewhere else. You're a distraction."

IF narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms, "…This Basilicom is a bit arrogant. Shows what kind of leader Black Heart is when you meet people who serve her."

"We're not like those who suck up to Black Heart! I don't care what people say, but don't confuse us for them. You brats better scram already, or I'm going to have to hurt you!"

Neptune looked irked by the man's remark, "Oh? Have you seen our stats? We're probably way stronger than you!"

Heero picked Neptune up by the collar of her hoodie, "Neptune, it would be best to avoid attracting unnecessary attention."

The teen shot a glare at the Basilicom staff member. "We are not here to fight a war… tempting as it is."

IF saw the reasoning in Heero's words, "He's right, besides you shouldn't bring that up to an NPC. Let's just come back later. We can't waste time."

The party left the Basilicom, as it was clear that they would not be able to get in at this time without stirring up trouble.

Xxx

The party returned to the city and Compa looked slightly disheartened, "What should we do? We couldn't even get inside the Basilicom…"

Even Neptune seemed to have a slightly dampened spirit, "He didn't have to be such a party-pooper. I guess people are different everywhere… Sometimes the world is cruel."

IF began to vent, if only slightly, "Did you hear the way he was talking? He really crossed the line talking about their CPU like that."

Heero looked towards the center of town, "If we cannot acquire information from the Basilicom, our next source of information will be the townspeople."

Neptune pumped her arms, her spirit renewed with vigor, "Great idea, Heero! Y'know, this is why we're Destined Lovers."

The Gundam pilot pinched the bridge of his nose, "(Because I use common sense?)"

Compa was quick to support the idea, "Good idea. It may take longer, but we just got here and we don't know much about Lastation yet. This is just the beginning. Let's take our time, explore, and learn!"

Xxx

The Heero, Neptune, Compa and IF arrived at what looked like a junk yard full of discarded items such as pipes, children's toys and vehicles. IF directed her attention to the group, "Have you heard about the mysterious monsters appearing in Lastation?"

The mere mentioning of the word 'monsters'had gotten Neptune excited, "Ooh, are they tough? Super tough? What kinda monsters are they?!"

"I was told they attack in groups while making weird noises! And… I think I heard a noise just now…"

Neptune looked at IF for a moment with a blank stare, "Huh? Oh, pshaw! Don't try to scare us like that."

Heero's eyes darted around the area, "She is not trying to scare anyone. Something is making a noise, and whatever it is, it is making its way towards our locale."

Compa looked a little scared, "I-I hear it, too…! It's coming from every direction!"

IF looked around franticly, "Are we surrounded? Is it an ambush? E-Everyone, get ready…!"

"We're so not ready for this!"

The group began to hear the sound of a dog barking, "Arf! Arf, arf!"

Neptune tilted her head, "Huh…? Arf…?"

A robotic dog came out from behind a pile of discarded pipes and soon more began to come out of hiding, "Arf! *Whimper*…"

IF breathed a sigh of relief, "They're canine model robots. Phew."

Compa examined the robotic animals, "…Aren't these the robotic pets popular a few years back?"

Neptune scratched the top of her head, "Huh? I never knew nothin' about it."

Heero's eyes roam from one dog to the next and counted each and every one, "These dogs were most likely abandoned by their owners."

IF crossed her arms, "That explains a lot. It must have been after the trend died down."

Neptune crouched down to look at the robotic animals more closely, "They're not threatening at all. Look at how they're wagging their tails and being all nice and stuff!"

The robotic dogs began to whimper once again, "Hehehe. There, there. I know you're just lonely. ArfArf. It's okay, come over here to Mama Neptune…"

IF watched as the robotic pets began to crowd around Neptune, "Seems the robot dogs have found their newest pack member…"

Heero turned in the direction of the nearest exit, with IF and Compa in tow, "Are we gonna leave Nep-Nep here?"

The Perfect Soldier responded with a nod, "I do not know how, but Neptune seems to have the ability to find us regardless of where we are. We need to continue with our intelligence gathering."

IF smirked as she looked back at Neptune, "I don't mind leaving her behind. Besides, it like Heero said, she'll find us… she always finds us."

Xxx

The party was gathering information while taking on numerous miscellaneous bounty jobs so they would have money just in case they needed it. During their info gathering session, they learned of a factory that was the target of monster attacks.

The group was currently searching for someone, specifically a woman from the factory being attacked who requested a job from them, Compa saw a woman stand out among the other civilians, "Is that her? The person who wants us to fight monsters?"

The tone of Neptune's voice suggested that she was slightly disappointed, "Huh? She's kinda small, isn't she? I was thinking, like a… big burly man as president."

"Oh, she saw us. She's waving at us… She's gotta be the right person."

IF crossed her arms, "I suppose she's come to the same conclusion about us."

The party went over to meet with the woman who had a slight build, "…So, it's you girls and your friend here? You're gonna fight the monsters for me? …Are you sure you'll be okay?"

IF had a business like air about her, "We all know not to judge books by their covers, right? Nice to meet you. I'm IF. This is Compa, that's Neptune, and this is Heero."

"My name is Chian. I run a small factory called Passe in the Central City."

Chian's eyes alternated between Heero and IF, "…By any chance, are you two a couple? I wouldn't be surprised if you were."

IF let out a small squeak and her cheeks instantly turned blood red, "W-What?! N-No, we're just members on the same party."

Chian then looked over at Compa, "Are you his girlfriend? It would seem a little less likely, but I would believe it."

Compa began to shuffle around, obviously she was embarrassed, "W-Well…"

Neptune seemed a little irked that Chian thought that IF or Compa could be seen as being Heero's girlfriend, "Hello? I'm Heero's destined lover! Me!"

Chian looked at Neptune, "…Destined lover?"

Heero crossed his arms and mentally sighed, "(Why does this women think I am in any kind of relationship with these girls? And why must Neptune tell every new person we come across that we are lovers?) If you don't mind, can we get on with the job? Surely you did not call us here just to chat."

"We need someone to get rid of the monsters attacking our carriages and train. You guys sure you can handle it?"

Neptune was beaming with confidence, "You betcha! We know how to fight, so we'll totally be victorious!"

Chian could not help but believe Neptune's words as her eyes roamed over Heero's frame, "I like you. That confidence makes it much easier for me to trust your words. Especially with your friend there."

Neptune followed Chian's gaze to Heero, then looked back at her with slightly puffed up cheeks, "Hey! Watch it missy! You can look, but you can't touch."

Heero felt as though he was getting a headache that could kill a horse, "(I want to get this mission underway as soon as possible… and some headache powder or other medicinal item that treats headaches.)"

Xxx

The party's mission was fairly straight forward, they were to thin out the numbers of a specific kind of monster, Chian said five would be enough. The group had entered a cave where their targets were located and set about to deal with them.

Compa was shuffling slightly, though it did not go unnoticed by Heero, "You have been showing an abnormal pattern of movement. Is there something wrong?"

Compa began to look at her feet, unable to look at Heero, "W-Well… Heero, what would you think if you and I were a… c-c-couple."

Neptune and IF stopped upon hearing this and waited for Heero's reply. Heero was not sure how to respond to the nurse, "…I do not know how to answer your question. I have never been in that form of relationship with another."

Heero suddenly detected movement in front of the party, and saw a large bird with a white feathery body, a short beak, and a flimsy red object on its head.

Within a split second Heero had armed his GN Sword and was already in front of the monster that was also one of the party's targets, a Cockatrice. Heero made a horizontal cut along the creatures body then fired a round from the GN Sword's Rifle mode into the freshly made cut, eliminating the Cockatrice, "…We only need to eliminate four more targets."

The group set out to defeat the remaining four Cockatrice, fortunately the dungeon was relatively small considering the job they had to complete. Halfway into the rocky cave, the party encountered two more Cockatrice, Neptune pumped her arms, "Alright, I'll-"

"Compa, IF, I want you two to take care of them."

The two girls were moderately surprised that Heero would request them to fight, "Why do you want us to? Not that I mind, I'm just curious."

Heero focused his attention on IF, "Both you and Compa are strong girls, there is no doubt in my mind that you will have little difficulty overcoming these enemies."

Both Compa and IF's cheeks were tinged pink, they were flattered that Heero thought so highly of them. Neptune began to look at Heero with half open eyes, "How come you're praising them?"

"I give praise where it is due, use it too freely and it holds little value."

Compa and IF fought the two monsters with little difficulty at all, just as Heero had said. Though they had fought them with the same senseless brutality that they displayed in the Evil Cave when they fought the Sand Worm for the second time.

With three Cockatrice defeated the party only needed two more to complete their job. It wasn't until they arrived at the end of the dungeon that the group found their remaining targets. Heero watched the two monsters for a moment, "Neptune. I leave you to deal with these two."

Neptune looked at Heero with her head tilted, "Okie-dokey! But why?"

"Just like Compa and IF, you are a strong girl. While it will be slightly more difficult as you will be fighting a two-on-one battle, I am confident that you can overcome these odds."

Neptune's face was red and when she turned to face the two Cockatrice monsters, steam was blowing out of her nostrils, "Ooh, I got praise from my destined lover! I know I scored points there!"

Both monsters charged at the preteen, who held a fiery determination in her eyes.

Neptune's HDD disk appeared, and she wasted no time in transforming, "I'll end this quickly."

True to her word, Neptune swiftly cut down the first monster before it knew what hit it. The second Cockatrice was no more lucky than the first, as Neptune had kicked into the air, jumped after it and performed an axe kick that sent it towards the ground, then brought her sword down on it, cratering the monster in the process.

With that, the party was finished with their job. The twin braided swordstress was smiling, unable to contain her excitement, "The monsters are so numerous here. Makes things that much more entertaining…!"

Compa stared at the transformed Neptune, "Nep-Nep, you act so tough in that form. Why do you think there are so many monsters here?"

Neptune actually looked slightly concerned, "Don't ask me, but how could this be caused by the diminishing powers of the CPUs? Do their powers even weaken?"

IF crossed her arms, "Well, their power comes from the faith of humanity. If monsters keep attacking, their faith will be shaken. Meaning less protection, more monster attacks, less people, less faith… it's a downward spiral."

"That's succinct. So, as more time passes, more monsters will appear."

Compa began to become increasingly worried, "I-I didn't think of it that way, but it makes sense! What do we do?"

The twin braided swordstress returned to her normally serious expression, "Don't worry, I'm here. Someone told me… I'm the only one who can save the world."

Heero, who had been leaning against the wall, focused his gaze on Neptune, "I was given information along the same vain; that Neptune will save this world and I must assist her to the best of my abilities."

"See? Even Heero heard… and that he was asked to help me. Though I will be relying on you much more from here on out, Heero. I can save it. I'll prove it right now!"

Neptune took off towards the entrance to the dungeon, leaving Heero, Compa and IF by themselves. Compa just smiled as the swordstress took off, "She has the same strong sense of justice, but this Nep-Nep is more dependable. I feel comfortable trusting her!"

IF had her eyes closed and her arms crossed, "I agree she's an improvement over her casual, laid-back attitude… but am I the only one who can't stand her either way?"

Xxx

After completing their job, the party received one thousand credits as their reward. Neptune was a little disappointed, "I know we just started, but that's sorta dinky for a reward…"

Compa scratched her cheek as a nervous drop of sweat ran down the side of her face, "I heard business isn't going well because a major company called Avenir is monopolizing the industry."

IF was concerned, but the concern was for their work, "I heard smaller factories are closing down due to Avenir, but I don't think that's the only reason."

Neptune was of course, quick to make an accusation, though brimming with excitement, "Monopolizing is bad, right? Then, like, that company is an evil conglomerate!"

"…Are you going to assault them if I agree with you? We can't just assume a company is bad because they're successful."

Neptune stomped her foot, "But I can't ignore the fact that people are suffering cuz of them! If I take down that company, a lotta people would be happy!"

IF crossed her arms and gave the preteen an incredulous look, "I don't think 'take down' is the right term. We usually defer to the Basilicom for these issues, not violence."

Compa looked at the brunette with uncertainty in her eyes, "But we were told to leave there just recently. How will we get the Key Fragment or stop Avenir like this?"

"Avenir aside, it'd be bad if our traveling budget ran out because of this horrible economy. Let's keep moving to other landmasses and think about what we can accomplish there."

IF noticed Heero had his eyes closed, then they would reopen before starting to close again, he was fading in and out of consciousness, "How are you holding up, Heero? With everything you've had to put up with today, I can imagine you're starting to feel tired."

The teen forced himself to stay awake, "I refuse to become a hindrance on our mission."

Compa stood in front of the soldier, "You shouldn't strain yourself, Heero. You need to rest."

IF looked down the street they were on, "There's a hotel down the street, we'll stay there tonight then head out first thing tomorrow."

As the group made their way to the location they would be spending the night, Heero's thoughts returned to the three girls in front of him, "(They may be odd, but I have dealt with oddballs before. These girls are nowhere near as bad… I feel as though I can trust them, they have proved to be deserving of it.)"

Xxx

Chapter 5, done. The only reason this chapter didn't have much in the way of important story driving progress in it is because I wanted to save it for subsequent chapters. The party is in Lastation now, and soon Noire is going to make her appearance in the story. This is the second part of my Holiday gift to my readers, thank you for your support while I've been updating this story that you all clearly enjoy. Read and comment, thanks and Happy Holidays!


	7. The Black Shadow and the X1 Pt1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or Hyperdimension Neptunia (though I wish I did.)**

Sorry I have not updated this story as quickly as I normally do, the whole two updates in one night thing I did for Christmas really drained my brains, and it was also Christmas so I wanted to unwind, and on top of THAT I got my copy of SD Gundam G Generation Overworld that same day (It's a really great and addictive game, you should try it if you don't have it and if you do I would like to hear your opinions on it.) Now, without further ado I give you the next chapter of my story, enjoy.

Pairings include: HeeroXNeptune/Purple Heart, HeeroXIF, HeeroXNoire/Black Heart, HeeroXCompa, HeeroXVert/Green Heart, HeeroXBlanc/White Heart, HeeroXNisa, HeeroXGust, HeeroXHistoire (still debating on HeeroXRed, if you would like to see this pairing let me know), IFX Vert/Green Heart, IFX5pb, and IFXRed.

**Ch. 6 The Black Shadow and the X1 Pt. 1**

It was early the next morning and the party was standing outside of a factory with the word 'Passe' in neon lights above the entrance. Chian had gathered the party to her factory to discuss an important matter.

As the group stepped into the factory. Neptune looked around will slight intrigue, "This is Chian's company…?" The factory looked like the inside of a weapons storage house, there were crates of ammo, conveyer belts and assembly lines and other necessities for the construction of weapons.

As the party examined the factory Chian came out from behind a large fuel tank, "There you guys are. It's nothing lavish, I know. It's just a small factory. Oh, we make everything from kitchenware to missiles. Come in. Let's get cozy before we talk."

As the party followed Chian, Heero found himself thinking that he had just found his connection to the supplies he might need. Chian led the party to what looked like the inside of a public bar with wooden tables and chairs and on the other side of the room were barstools lined up in a row, "Sit anywhere you like. This is my home."

Neptune was making her way straight to the other side of the room, "Cool! Dibs on the barstool! It's so neat having a restaurant next to your office. You can drink whatever you want!"

"Yeah, since it's my house. Having one business isn't enough for living expenses, so my mother helps me around here. I really did have to get two jobs at Lastation. There's just not enough work since Avenir was established."

Neptune looked to be a little peeved, "So, Avenir IS bad! Everyone in town, including you, is suffering because of them, right?"

"They're not just 'bad!' They took all of our clients… They're monsters! Even the goddess and the Basilicom just turn a blind eye and let them do whatever they want. They'll eventually take over this entire landmass if we don't do anything about it."

The purple haired preteen pumped her arms, "As I suspected! Lastation won't find peace with Avenir around. We gotta defeat them!"

Compa looked over at Neptune with a concerned expression on her face, "What should we do? It's not gonna be as easy as it sounds. How do we 'defeat' an entire company, anyway?"

Chian folded her arms, "…We won't go down easily. Plus, we've got the Technology Expo this year." Compa looked at Chian quizzically, "What's that? Is it like a festival?"

IF crossed her arms as she looked at the nurse-in-training, "Oh, you three have never been to Lastation before, right? I'm sorry, but can you explain?"

"Explaining a worldview or culture can't really be avoided in RPGs. It might be a boring narrative, but bear with me. The Expo takes place in Lastation every four years. Various companies showcase new technologies under a common theme. It's for people to network, or exchange information and skills. The best item gets a trophy from Lastation's CPU!"

Compa tilted her head, "A trophy? What an achievement! So, can we take down Avenir with a trophy?" Heero made his presence known after remaining silent for the time they had been there, "It is not the trophy that is significant in this case, rather it is the person who is presenting it."

Chian nodded her head, "That's right. We'll aim for the goddess. We'll showcase at the Expo, win, and meet with her for a negotiation!"

Compa's face was a mixture of seriousness and bewilderment, "I see. Then, you've got your work cut out for you. It'll be really tough."

"Sure. I need to begin making arrangements. I actually asked you here to discuss just that." Of course, Neptune was quick to jump to conclusions, "Nope, we won't cosign any of your loans."

"Hah! It's not about money. We need to transfer tools and materials, but the monsters are still… We'd risk our lives for a single screw! I'm just warnin' you, but we'll probably be asking for your help more often."

"Ah, I getcha. You want us to make sure you don't get distracted while prepping for the Expo." Heero was honestly impressed that Neptune was able to come up with the answer on her own, "That's right! I'm glad you're such a quick little thinker. I'm counting on you."

Heero pushed himself off the wall, "I shall prepare for the mission." As Heero left, the others in the room noticed the cold beads of sweat running down the sides of his face and his irregular breathing. Chian turned her attention to the three girls, "Is your friend all right? He doesn't look too good."

An expression of concern made its way on to IF's face, "He's been like that since yesterday afternoon when we finished the job you gave us. I wonder if Heero's gotten sick."

Compa watched as Heero left the room, "If he's sick then he should be in bed." IF turned to look at Neptune, who didn't seem to have a care in the world, "Neptune, Heero is supposed to help you, right? Think you can get him to sit this job out?""

Neptune scratched her cheek, "I'll try, but no promises."

Xxx

While Chian had informed them of Lastation's questionable corporation Avenir, it seemed that said corporation was suffering from monster attacks like everyone else.

The party was walking through a forest with light foliage, on their way to the job they had accepted from Avenir… and as one could guess, Neptune wasn't exactly happy with the idea, "So why're we working for Avenir if we know they're totally evil?"

IF spoke to the preteen in a matter-of-fact tone, "Idealism won't feed us. You'll never be an adult if you're always picky about food or work. There's our client."

Ahead of the party was an elderly man, once they were close enough he began to eye them with a dark, albeit questioning gaze. Not uttering a single word, it didn't even look as though he was breathing. Compa addressed the elderly man with her usual bright smile, "Hello, Mr. Singe of Avenir. We're Compa, Nep-Nep, Iffy, and Heero. We've come to fight monsters."

"…I don't have a choice. I need you to eliminate all the surrounding monsters while I inspect a plant by the city outskirts. Don't let any run loose and cause damage to the facility. Get moving."

Singe began to walk away and Compa watched him with a frown, "What's his problem? He must be underestimating us because of our looks. How rude!"

IF snickered at the pink haired nurse, "It's inevitable when you or Nep are around. At least Heero and I don't have to worry about that." As IF began to walk away, Compa's cheeks began to puff up, "Iffy, you're not one to talk when you're that short… and without boobies."

After five minutes the group had finished their job to exterminate the monsters, per Singe's request. Neptune wore a big smile on her face, "There, all done! I don't see any more monsters."

Compa wore an equally big smile, "Nope. I'm certain the rest ran away. That's all for today." Singe walked into the clearing the party had settled down in, obviously he was done with his inspection of the plant, "The inspection is complete. Are you kids done, too? You sure you didn't miss any?"

Neptune put her hands on her hips, brimming with confidence, "It's all good when I'm on the prowl! We even took out the boss-like one, so I betcha they'll stay away for a while."

"Good. However, if even one remains and it damages the facility, we will never conduct business with you again." Compa grew slightly nervous at Singe's words, "Th-That's a bit harsh. Why can't you just repair the damage if that happens?"

"You have no idea, do you? Mere humans should never degrade machinery! Have you ever seen a human as detail-oriented or precise as a machine?" Tears began to well up in Compa's eyes, "I-I don't know… I'm not a machine."

"Right. You're just an incompetent human. Who knows when you'll make a mistake? Being human is no excuse for errors! If humans are expected to make a mistake, I'd rather machines do the job from the start. Keep that in mind the next time you take a job from this company."

Heero could not understand why, but for some reason he felt very irritable… no, rather he was actually angry. Sitting there listening to Singe verbally abuse Compa was bad enough, but seeing the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes… that was like pushing one of Heero's 'Don't push if you want to live' buttons, "…I wonder if your machines are really as great as you make them out to be."

Neptune, Compa, IF, and Singe had their attention focused on the Gundam pilot, "Let me ask you this: what is it that makes machines in the first place? ...No, I suppose a better question would be: who do you think it was that created machines in the first place?"

"A human like you lecturing me on the greatness of machines?" Heero narrowed his eyes into a deathly glare, "When humans make a mistake, we learn from it so we don't repeat our mistake. When a machine makes a mistake, how is it supposed to learn from it? It cannot think on its own, it is incapable of determining whether or not it made a mistake. It has to be programmed by humans."

Neptune, Compa, and IF were surprised that Heero was talking down to this elderly man who believed that machines were better than humans, "No matter how precise, detail-oriented, or great these machines of yours are, you seem to forget one thing… it is humans who make your precious machines. No matter how perfect a machine may be, it will never replace a human. You seem to forget your place."

Singe turned to leave, "…I have no time to sit around a listen to a human lecture me on machines."

Heero looked over at Compa, who was wiping a tear from her eye, "Wh-Wh-What did I do to get yelled at? Did I really say something bad?"

IF gave Compa a sympathetic smile, "Don't cry. You didn't do anything. That was pretty immature of him, yelling at three pretty girls like that." The brunette turned to face Heero, "I'm a little more surprised with Heero. I've never seen him look so… angry."

Compa wiped a few more tears that began to cascade down her cheeks, "Maybe he thought… I was making fun of machines…" IF's tone suggested she was more than a little irked, "But he's mocking humanity!"

"Let it go, IF." The brunette looked over at Heero, who was leaning on a tree for support, "Every person is entitled to their own beliefs and opinions. If you allow his words to get to you, you will be just as immature as he is."

IF was about to make a witty retort, but stopped when she noticed that Heero was beginning to look more and more sick with each passing minute. Heero walked over to Compa and wiped a stray tear of her cheek with his thumb, "It is alright to cry, Compa. Considering what you just had to endure, it may help."

Compa immediately stopped whimpering and her cheeks turned a bright red, "I-I think I'm fine now. Th-Thank you, Heero." Neptune shot a dirty look at Compa, "I bet you did that on purpose just so you could score points with Heero."

Heero began to head towards the nearest exit that lead out of the foliage they were in, "If our business here is done, we should head back. We'll just be wasting time otherwise."

Xxx

Once they were back in town, they resumed their information gathering in case new information they had not obtained came to light. While they were walking down one of the city streets, IF was getting frustrated with her cell's bad reception, "Huh? Ugh… Useless!"

Compa turned to look at the brunette, "Iffy, why're you screaming at your cell phone?" IF put away the pink cell phone, "Oh. I was watching a TV show on it, but the connection got cut. Probably because I'm behind this ridiculously tall building."

"Maybe. That happens to me every now and then, too." IF crossed her arms and looked up at the building, "Huh. Doesn't this building belong to that major game company?"

Neptune suddenly popped up between IF and Compa, "I just started playin' games, but I'm already a fan of these guys!" The nurse-in-training looked at the preteen with moderate surprise, "Oh, you started playing? What kind of games are you enjoying the most?"

"Well, I mean, I haven't played a lot, but I like those first-person action games. It's so hectic and boom and crazy! I end up under a big rock all the time, though…"

Compa tapped on her chin with her index finger, as if in contemplation, "If it's this company, I like the golfing game made for everybody. It's so fun!"

IF stood and watched as the two girls began to talk back and forth about gaming, "Gaming's popular these days, I see." Neptune turned on her heel to face IF, "Well, it's a road everyone's gotta take at some point. Oh, that reminds me. What the heck?! You can watch TV on your phone?!"

The brunette stared at the preteen in front of her, "…What era are you from, again?" As Neptune and Compa began to converse amongst, IF looked at Heero out of the corner of her eye. He was sitting on a nearby bench and looked exhausted, "(Great to know those two can act so merry while we've got a member who looks like he's seen better days.)"

Xxx

Neptune came busting through the door of Chian's restaurant with the rest of the party in tow, "Hiya! Aw, I feel so at home… This dirty counter, the small, confined rooms… the smell of food baked into the walls!"

Chian seemed slightly annoyed by Neptune's definition of her restaurant, "…Shut up! Did you meet Singe? What did you think? Isn't he horrible?" Neptune looked angry at the mentioning of Singe, "Yeah! He made Compa cry with his machinery lecture. He's a total creepazoid!"

"Oh, yeah, I expected as much. He's entirely against manual labor." Neptune seemed surprised that Chian knew this, "You've met him before?"

"Naturally. He represents that whole company. He's also one of my old school's alumnus. I saw him when he came to lecture a class. I bet he just prattled on about how precise machines are and what not."

The preteen seemed to enjoy making fun of the elderly man, "Heh, yeah he did! With that ominous, gruff voice!"

"He doesn't approve of any technician's skills or pride. I despise him, but that's not the only reason. But enough about that. Let's talk about getting you girls and your friend another job. Speaking of which…"

The factory owner looked over at Heero, who was actually sitting in a chair, "Is it just me, or does he look worse than when you guys first came in today?"

Compa's concern was plain as day on her face, "We don't know what's wrong with Heero. He was fine yesterday."

"Anyway, I need you to go to the next town and get some materials from Chevre. Here. It's the map to his shop." As the girls received the map from Chian, a news report came on over the radio, "_…Broadcasting public information from the Basilicom. After discussion amongst the Basilicom representatives, the Tech Expo has been cancelled this year_."

Chian snapped her neck to look at the radio so quickly it was a surprise that she didn't break it, "What?! Wait a sec!"

"_The Sanctuary announced that this is due to a decreased number of exhibitors. However, the civil committee speculates that… the Parliament may have pressured the Sanctuary into the cancelation of this traditional event…"_

Chian was in an uproar, "Are you kidding me? We can't afford to wait four more years! By then, all the factories will be long gone!" Neptune attempted to calm the fuming Chian, "Whoa, Chian, calm down!"

"This was probably the last chance my factory had…" Heero and the others excused themselves while Chian contemplated what she could do to save her factory… if there WAS anything she could do.

Xxx

The party had been informed of a child that had gotten lost in a dungeon and the crew headed out to save the child, meanwhile something seemed to be bothering IF. Compa seemed to be in a slight state of panic, "Oh no, what should we do about the job we accepted from Ms. Chian? We already have the map…"

IF glanced over at Compa, "Just give her some time alone. We'll come back later. Anyway…" IF began to look at Compa with an angry expression on her face, "We don't have a single clue regarding the Key Fragment. Why would you take a job about a lost child on top of this?!"

"We'll never save the world if we don't save its people. My grandpa said, 'you must learn to walk before you can run!' The mom looked worried. There are so many nasty creatures outside of town. Her child will be eaten if we don't hurry!"

IF crossed her arms and turned her back to the nurse-in-training, "So what? Babies get eaten all the time. It's survival of the fittest. I'll leave you behind if you keep dilly-dallying."

Neptune responded to the brunette with her normal cheerful attitude, "Aw, don't be a pooper-scooper. I'll buy you some lollipops later! What's this kid look like?"

"The mom said her/his body is just an NPC silhouette, so she/he should be pretty easy to spot." Neptune smiled as a nervous drop of sweat ran down her cheek, "Ah. I see."

Neptune directed her attention at Heero, "Hey Heero, you doing okay?" The teen did not udder a word, and suddenly fell on top of Neptune. When they landed on the ground, Heero's face was in-between Neptune's legs, causing her cheeks to turn red, "Wh-Whoa, what're you doing, Heero? Is this supposed to be our M rated scene? Then I'm totally ready for you."

Heero did not respond. IF had looked angry when he landed on Neptune, but her anger turned to concern when Heero did not move, "Hey, you okay, Heero?"

Still, Heero did not respond. IF turned Heero onto his back to see that he was struggling to even so much as breath, "Dammit, Compa! I need some help here!"

Compa hurried over to the brunette as she examined Heero, her face a mixture of panic and worry, "…His condition is getting worse. Compa, do you happen to thermometer on you?"

Compa dug into her purse to find a thermometer while IF checked Heero's temperature with her hand, the moment IF's hand came in contact with Heero's forehead she almost immediately withdrew it and flailed her hand, "Yeowch! He's hot! REALLY hot!"

Neptune's cheeks puffed up as IF said Heero was hot, "Hey. What's that supposed to mean? You tryin' to score points or something?"

"Not that kind of 'hot'! (…But he is kinda hot in that way.)" Compa found a thermometer and stuck it into Heero's mouth. As soon as the girls heard a beeping noise from the small device, Compa took it out of Heero's mouth and looked at it. IF checked the reading the small device gave and frowned, "Try it again!"

Compa did as she was asked and repeated the process of putting the thermometer in Heero's mouth and taking it out when she heard the beeping noise. IF looked at the thermometer once more, upon seeing the reading she grit her teeth, reared her arm back and threw the thermometer towards the nearby lake, "Useless piece of crap!"

"I-Iffy, why did you do that?"

"That thing was obviously broken. Have you checked his forehead?! There's no way he could be 98.7 degrees!" IF looked back over at Heero and saw Neptune roasting marshmallows over Heero's forehead, "See?! Nep is even able to roast marshmallows with his head!"

Neptune grinned at IF, "Roast marshmallows and make smores!" At this point Heero did not even seem to be breathing, which only caused more panic amongst the girls, Neptune lightly slapped Heero along the sides of his face, "C'mon Heero, wake up! *Gasp* I betcha he needs a kiss from his true love!"

IF gave the preteen a questioning look, "Just what makes you think that will help?!"

"Well, we got nothing else, right? Not like it would hurt to try." Neptune was on top of Heero and slowly lowered her face towards the unconscious teen's. Just as Neptune's lips were barely a hairs width, she was startled by the voice of the person underneath her, "I would appreciate it if you would get off me."

A nervous drop of sweat ran down Neptune's cheek, "Hey, you're up!" Neptune got off of Heero as he began to stand up, IF breathed a sigh of relief, "You gave us quite the scare, you know. You really need to take it easy."

"Regardless of my condition or state of health, I will complete my mission. You do not need to concern yourself with me." As Heero began to walk away, Neptune let out the sigh of a love struck girl, "Even when he's sick, he only thinks about protecting cute little me. That's a lover for ya!"

IF's eye began to twitch, "That's the bad part, Heero is too focused on protecting you to worry about himself."

Xxx

The party arrived at the dungeon where the child had supposedly gotten lost in… which just happened to be a cave. As the party advanced into the cave, Heero was already on the lookout for any monsters despite his weakened state. Three minutes into the dungeon, Heero did not see any monsters… and that was beginning to sound off a few mental warning flags for the Perfect Soldier, "(Normally those goofy looking monster pop out of nowhere and start to attack… something's wrong.)"

Even when the party reached the end of the dungeon there had not been a single monster, which only sounded off more warning flags in Heero's mind. IF spotted a monster lying on the ground, she walked over to the creature to inspect it, "A monster… It's already dead. What're you two doing? Hurry up and get over here."

IF shouted back at Neptune and Compa, who were lying around doing absolutely nothing, "Nope, no thanks! It's all you Iffy! Go ahead and take care of it. Compa, Heero and I are gonna wait here patiently."

"Just tell us if you don't want to find the lost child!" IF was quite irked at the response she was receiving from Neptune and Compa, "We've beaten a ton of monsters already. Aren't you used to seeing them dead yet?"

The brunette returned her attention to the monster lying in front of her, "…A clean cut and a huge welt. Doesn't look like any weapon from Lastation. Planeptune's advanced weapons? No… but what…?"

Heero walked over to examine the monster, garnering a small smile from IF, "At least someone is trying to be helpful, have any ideas?"

"No, but this does confirm my suspicions. There is someone else here."

"Someone else is here? What do yo-" IF stopped when she heard a noise drawing closer to the party, "Huh? Someone's coming!"

A girl came out from the confined entrance to the room the party had entered through no more than thirty seconds ago. The girl looked to be a teenager, and a very good looking one at that. She had long pure, snow white hair that was slightly messy, but added to her appeal, blue-green eyes with irises that looked like power button symbols, and a skin suit that almost looked like Neptune's when she transformed except that the arms of the suit were unattached and her shoulders were exposed, making it look like a swimsuit, and the skin suit was mostly black with white and silver.

The girl looked to be slightly surprised when she saw Heero and IF, "Civilians? What are you two doing out here?" IF gave the mystery girl a questioning gaze, "R-Right back at ya! Who are you? What are you doing here?"

"The kid. I came to save a child. It's taken care of. But I don't need to be thanked. Anyway, there was supposed to be a girl who accepted the same job. Her name's Neptune. You know her?"

IF narrowed her eyes as she turned to look at the aforementioned purple haired preteen, who looked at the mystery girl with great fascination, "Whoa, what's happening? She's so coolios! Do you know her, Iffy?"

"No, She's your friend or something, right? She knows your name, at least. She… looks like you after you transform." Neptune focused her attention on the white haired girl, and she looked as though she was trying to remember something… but by the look on her face she was having great difficulty doing so, "Huh? I don't think I've met her before. I'm sorry, have we?"

A small smirk made its way onto the mystery girl's face, "Sure, I get it. You want to avoid fighting me in front of these outsiders. Pretty rational. B-But I'm not praising you. You think I'm just here to say 'hi?'" A serious, determined look replaced her smirk, "Let's settle this, Neptune!"

Heero grabbed Neptune by the arm and pulled her until she was behind him, ""If you want to get to Neptune, you must first go through me."

The white haired girl narrowed her eyes, "This is between me and Neptune, it's none of your business!" Heero narrowed his eyes into a glare that sent a chill down the mystery girl's spine, his GN Sword appeared on his right arm, "Part of my mission is to protect Neptune, so I'm making it my business."

Heero suddenly felt two pairs of arms around both of his, and they belonged to Compa and IF, "What are you doing, Heero?! You're too sick to fight."

"Iffy is right, Heero. You need to rest." Heero jerked his arms away from both girls, forcing them back in the process, "I told you once before. Regardless of my condition or state of health, I will complete my mission."

IF narrowed her eyes at Neptune, "(The moron there is too love struck to tell Heero to rest, he'll only last so long in his condition.)"

The mystery girl readied her weapon, which was a two sided broadsword, "Fine by me. You can beg for mercy if you want, but I won't listen!"

Heero charged at the woman, both of their bladed weapons collided and caused sparks to fly through the air. Both combatants were locked in a stalemate, until Heero knocked the woman's sword away and kicked her in the left torso, knocking her to the ground. The GN Sword's blade folded back to reveal the barrel behind it, "All obstacles must be removed."

The mystery girl recovered in time to grab her sword and evade the bursts of thermal energy fired at her from the GN Sword. As Heero continued to track her with his beam weapon, he had to squint his eyes as his vision was beginning to become blurred, "(My eye sight is suffering from my condition. Ranged combat is no longer an option.)"

The blade of the GN Sword snapped back into place over the rifle barrel, and Heero readied himself as the mystery girl charged straight for him. Heero ran straight at her when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest, before he had any time to react he blacked out.

Rather than falling straight towards the ground, Heero fell face first into the mystery girl's chest, both surprising and embarrassing her. The woman fell on her back with Heero on top of her, her face was a deep shade of red, "Wh-What are you doing?! This is no time to be trying cop a feel or fall asleep! We're supposed to be fighting right now!"

"Get the hell away from him!" The white haired girl looked up to see IF overhead, she quickly freed herself from underneath Heero and moved away in time to see IF drop her foot down, leaving a small crater where her head had been.

Neptune and Compa rolled Heero onto his back and his eyes looked completely devoid of life, "H-Hey, C'mon Heero, wake up."

"Please get up Heero!" IF walked backwards until she was standing in front of the other three party members, "You two need to help me here." Compa looked up at the brunette, "What are we going to do?"

"What do you think? We need to kick her ass first, otherwise we won't be able to get Heero out of here!" Neptune stormed over to the mystery girl, the preteen's cheek were puff up as she looked at her, "I saw what you did! You pretended to fight Heero when really you were just tryin' to get him to touch those boobs of yours!"

The white haired girl's face grew an even darker shade of red then before, "N-No I didn't! He fell on me! Or were you just not paying attention like usual?!"

"Heh, a likely story. I'm not buying it!" Neptune grabbed onto the mystery girl's skin suit and pulled her down to her face until they were only a few millimeters apart, "Listen here, missy! Heero's my destined lover, not yours! Get your own!"

Neptune shoved the girl back, causing her to stumble and fall on her backside. When she looked back at Neptune she was completely dumbstruck, "Destined… lover?"

"And don't wear it out!" The white haired girl stood back up and readied her sword, "Whatever, it doesn't change anything. I'm still going to beat you, Neptune!"

Neptune pulled out her wooden sword, as Heero had yet to return the sword he said he would give back to her, "Compa, Iffy, c'mon! Let's kick her butt!"

IF pulled out her sharp Katars and Compa readied her large syringe, the mystery girl smirked, "It doesn't matter to me how you want to fight. I'll still beat you in the end!"

The white haired girl seemed to be confident in her own abilities, however it did leave one thing painfully clear… she had obviously never heard the phrase 'Hell hath no fury like a couple of Harem girls scorned.' IF had already begun to close the distance between herself and the strange woman, while Compa fired several bullets at her.

The mystery girl had blocked all of the bullets fired at her with her own flame shots, not realizing that Compa had fired at her as a diversion until IF was right in front of her. IF launched a flurry of attacks that were beginning to knock the white haired girl off balance, then Neptune swung her wooden sword right at the girl's abdomen. The attack had been strong enough to put her into a daze long enough for Compa to shoot the sword out of her hands.

Once the mystery girl had been disarmed, IF quickly grabbed her by the shoulders and kneed her in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her lungs and forcing her back into a wall. When the white haired girl looked up, she saw Neptune with her right arm cocked back and poised to strike, "Chest Buster!"

Neptune threw her fist into the girl's chest and she fell to her knees, too weak to continue fighting. The mystery girl stood up, holding her stomach, "How could I lose…? Have you powered up since leaving Celestia? D-Don't think this is all I've got! I'll crush you next time, Neptune."

The mysterious woman grabbed her sword and took off, leaving the girls to contemplate what just happened. IF crossed her arms as she focused her attention on Neptune, "She was totally coming after you. What did you do to her? I'm sure you knew her before you lost your memory."

Once more, Neptune tried to remember if she had met the girl who had just attacked them, but was not having much luck, "I-I didn't do nothin'! I hope! I can't remember… but… I'm sure we weren't really that close."

IF shook her head, "No, no, no… I mean, did you see her outfit? Her flame shots?! You must've done something really awful!" A feeling of dread came over the brunette, "How many crimes has this little girl committed in her past? Did I pick the wrong person to side with…?"

Neptune waved off IF's comment, "I betcha she was just uber jealous cause Heero is MY lover." IF looked over at the individual who had just been mentioned, Compa was sitting next to him and tending to him as best she could, "Speaking of which, we need to get Heero back to town. Maybe someone might know what's wrong with him."

Xxx

Heero was lying on his stomach… again. He stood up and found himself surrounded by vast nothingness, which could only mean that he was unconscious… AGAIN, "(Normally when I lose consciousness, Histoire has something she wants to tell me in regards to my mission.)"

Heero waited for the disembodied voice that usually came with his state of unconsciousness, but he heard nothing. He looked around for a moment, even though it was pointless and saw two small orbs of light. The two green lights slowly began to get bigger, once they were close enough Heero could tell that they were not getting bigger, rather they had looked small from a distance and were now growing to their actual size.

A few more seconds passed, and Heero could make out the actual shape of the 'lights', they looked like a pair of eyes. As the eyes drew closer, Heero could hear the sound of metal against the ground, then a yellow light below the eyes in the shape of a mouth was visible with yellow mist escaping from it.

Heero's eyes widened for a moment, not from fear or anything remotely related to that feeling, but as if he had remembered something, "(Where have I seen this before? I recall it being fairly recent, but where?)"

As Heero was lost in his reverie of thought, a bright light slowly began to engulf him from behind. Heero looked back at the light, then quickly looked back at the eyes and mouth. Before the light completely engulfed Heero's vision, he tried to see what he had been looking at the entire time.

The rate at which the bright light that usually meant he was waking up was enveloping him was so fast, Heero only had enough time to make out one more feature of the object that had been advancing towards him. The last thing Heero saw was a skull and crossbones relief emblazoned on the object.

Xxx

Heero's eyes snapped open and he observed his surroundings. He did not seem to be in a rocky cave, but a hotel room. Heero tried to get up but found that he couldn't, he looked down and saw Neptune had draped herself on top of him, a weird smile plastered on her face, "Hehe… Heero, you're such a… naughty boy…"

"Heero cocked an eyebrow, "(What the hell is she dreaming about? …On second thought, I don't think I really want to know.)" Heero noticed that Compa was in a very suggestive sleeping position with his left arm in between her breasts, and IF had a tight hold on his right arm.

Heero tried to move his left arm, but Compa tightened her grip on the limb and let out a moan. Heero noticed where his hand was, his eyes widened and he began to experience the same strange sensation he felt when he found himself in moments like this one, "(How is it that I always find myself in these kinds of… close physical encounters?)"

Neptune began to slowly began to wake up, she sat up and rubbed her eyes, then noticed that Heero was awake and gave the Perfect Soldier a big smile, "Hey, you're up! We were super worried about you, Heero."

IF and Compa began to wake up from the conversation, IF noticed she had her hands around Heero's arm, quickly let go and got off the bed, her cheeks were tinged a light pink, "I-It's good to see that you're awake, Heero."

Compa rubbed her eyes for a moment before sitting on her knees, "Good morning, Heero. Are you feeling better?" Heero stared up at the ceiling, "Compa… please release my hand."

Compa tilted her head to the side in a cute manner, "What are you talking about? I'm not holding your hand."

"Your legs are." Compa blinked a few times, "My… legs?" Compa looked down at her legs and when she did, her entire face became bright red and she let out a scream, "EEEEEKKKKK! Heero! Wh-What are you doing?! W-We're too young!"

Heero shot a glare at Compa, "I fail to see why it is you're getting onto me when clearly you were the one who put my hand there in the first place."

Compa began to mutter something incoherent to the other three, "(Heero touched my breast, and now he's touched me… there. This must be a sigh that we're meant to be a couple!)"

Neptune and IF shot dirty looks at Compa, "(I suppose being a ditz has its advantages… especially in the romance department. I gotta think of something big if I'm gonna catch up.)"

"(Compa is scoring more points than me! That's not cool! Well, you know what they say, drastic times call for uber drastic measure.)"

Neptune had a serious expression on her face as she looked at Heero, "Heero, let me see your hand." Heero was questioning what Neptune had planned for him, but considered that since she was giving him such a serious look she wasn't planning anything too outrageous.

The teen held his hand out to the preteen, who took a hold of it with both of hers and a big grin on her face, "Thanks!" Immediately after grasping Heero's hand, she placed in between her legs, causing Heero's eyes to widen once more.

IF slapped Neptune upside her head, "Ow. What was that for, Iffy?!"

"For being so indecent with Heero!" The teen removed his hand from where the preteen placed it and sat up, "Now that the… interesting events of this morning have come to pass, what has happened while I was unconscious?"

Neptune stopped rubbing the spot on her head from where IF had slapped her, "Well, we totally kicked that weird girl's butt… and we brought you back here."

IF rolled her eyes at Neptune's very short summary of the previous day, "I'll tell you what happened. After we defeated the 'weird girl' as Neptune calls her, we brought you back here to the city a called for a doctor. After she was finished… well… she told us she couldn't figure out what's wrong with you."

Heero could feel his condition growing worse, "Listen, Heero. We want you to take it easy from now on. You're gradually getting weaker and you're falling unconscious for longer periods of time."

"…Very well." Heero didn't exactly have much of a choice. If he pushed himself too far in his weakened state, he would more than likely jeopardize the mission.

Neptune clapped her hands together, "…And, cut! Okay people, let's go to the city and get something to eat!" IF cocked an eyebrow at the preteen, "You mean gather information, right?"

"That too! Now let's get moving people."

Xxx

While making another attempt to gather information around the city, IF speaks to Heero on the idea of getting important info form a heretic. The party was sitting on a bench in a park to discuss the issues, "Heretics are those who don't believe in the Basilicom's teachings, right? Where can we find one?"

IF gave Compa a slightly surprised look before crossing her arms, "Oh, I didn't expect you to know about that. I guess you did attend a Planeptune school. They've got good teachers. More specifically, they were kicked out of the Basilicom for worshipping another goddess."

Neptune tilted her head to the side for a moment before returning it to an upright position, "So the Basilicom gave 'em the boot for lavishing another goddess with attention instead of the one on their landmass?"

Compa gave Neptune a moderately surprised look, "You make it sound like a love affair… Nep-Nep, it's inappropriate to refer to the goddesses in such a way."

"Uh, sorry… But whatcha gonna do after we find one of these heretic folks?" Heero addressed Neptune while looking out towards the center of the city, not looking at anything in particular, "Naturally we would seek to acquire any information we could obtain."

IF let her arms fall to her sides, "(At least Heero catches on fast.) That's pretty much it. We ask them for internal information about the Basilicoms. I'm sure they'd know a lot, having been former members."

Compa nodded her head, "Yes. What we lack is information. Reasons! The Basilicom kicked us out and cancelled the Tech Expo." Neptune assumed her thinking position, "What if they don't wanna talk to us either?"

IF rolled her eyes, "Then we'll threaten them with your gun, of course. Or we can always sick Heero on them. I'm sure he could make them talk."

Heero merely nodded in response, Neptune and Compa got up from their seats, while IF looked back at Heero and noticed that he seemed to be concentrating, "What's wrong? Have you thought of something?"

"…I'm beginning to suspect that Avenir have people on the inside of the Basilicom." Neptune wore a serious expression on her face, "So your saying that Avenir is bumpin' elbows with the guys in the Basilicom?"

"I have not ruled out the possibility, in fact it is my number one probable reason for why the Technology Expo was cancelled and why we could not get into the Basilicom. It is not uncommon for a large business firm to have insiders in the political world, if anything it is a must if they are to be as successful as they are now."

IF raised a questioning eyebrow, "While it may be true, that's a pretty tall accusation. You're going to need irrefutable evidence."

Heero pushed himself off the tree he was leaning on, "Acquiring the evidence will be the easy part. The hard part will be obtaining said evidence without garnering too much attention."

"I can see where you're coming from. Avenir probably won't take too kindly to anyone trying to dig up dirt on them and their possible connections in the Basilicom. The moment they find out someone is looking into them, things are bound to get ugly."

"Though there is also the possibility that they are bribing the Parliament. For now, we should focus on the mission at hand. It may provide us with information that may help us find the connection." The group departed for the dungeon where the Heretic was said to be.

Xxx

The group arrived at another cave that was illuminated by fluorescent crystals, much like the one from the day before but with a different layout.

As the party set foot into the dungeon, a small group of monsters was already waiting behind the curve a few yards ahead, "…It hasn't even been five seconds and we already have welcoming committee."

The monsters consisted of two 'Vampire Bats' and a creature that was supposedly a Chimera, but really it only had one head, half of its body was part of a chariot and it had skeletal like wings for arms.

Since the 'Chimera' was the biggest of the three monsters, Heero wasted no time in labeling it as the number one threat and wasted no time in eliminating it, delivering two swift slash in the shape of an X with the GN Sword, and then firing into the center of the X with the GN Sword's Rifle mode.

At the same time as the Chimera fell, Neptune, Compa and IF had finished the goofy looking 'Vampire Bats', when considering that they were relatively small and could be cut in half with ease, it was no surprise that they fell so quickly.

Heero scanned the area for anymore monsters, "This is strangely becoming repetitive…" With no more monsters in sight, the party proceeded further into the dungeon, encountering a few more monsters and getting into minor skirmishes along the way.

Halfway through the cave like dungeon, Neptune looked from side to side before looking at Compa, "Didja notice the number of monsters here? It's a kinda tight spot… I wonder if they're all comfy."

"Yes, there were more than usual. I'm a bit worried about the heretics. Let's hurry!" The party increased their pace, so they could find the heretic before any of the monsters in the cave did.

Once they reached the back of the dungeon, Neptune saw an elderly man near a wall and immediately ran over to him, with Heero, Compa and IF not far behind, "So… you're Mr. Heretic? Whatcha doin' hiding in such a dark place?"

Compa extended her hand to the old man, "It's unhealthy to be away from the sun's rays entirely. Give me your hand and I'll lead you to Vitamin D!"

"Who're…? Get away. I'm not going anywhere. This's the only place to receive it. The messenger only knows this place."

IF looked at the heretic with a blank stare, "…This heretic must be trippin'…" Neptune got right in front of the heretic, "Mr. Heretic! We're here to ask you all about Basilicoms."

The heretic stopped his ranting when Neptune stated that they wanted to know about the Basilicoms, "…Basilicoms? Oh, okay. What's on your mind?"

"They didn't let us in and they cancelled the Tech Expo. What's up with that, man?"

"…Lastation Basilicoms are practically controlled by the Parliament side. The Sanctuary end is largely ignored. The current Parliament listens only to the sound of coin. Well, the Sanctuary reps don't listen much either…"

A nervous drop of sweat ran down Neptune's cheek, "Sanctuary? P-Parliament? Iffy, help is needed!" IF rolled her eyes at Neptune, "The Sanctuary serves the CPU and evangelizes. Parliament serves the CPU and governs. Is it really that complicated?"

Neptune redirected her attention to the heretic, "Okay, whatever. So your Basilicom is a rotten egg because of the Parliament stuff?"

"The Sanctuary is no different. Those fanatics have no ears to heed our warnings with. Humanity is DOOMED!" Compa tilted her head to one side, "Huh? What do you mean all humanity is doomed? Are you proffesizing the apocalypse?"

"Of course. We're all going to die at the hands of Overlord Momus. Momus is powerful enough to seal away one of the goddesses. Even our current CPU had to retreat to this world to avoid his power."

Neptune nodded her head a few time, "I see. Uh-huh. I betcha that guy's the cause of every monster in the whole world! What an absolute jerkwad!"

Compa returned her attention to the elderly heretic, "It's hard to believe, though. Is there really an Overlord more powerful than one of our goddesses?"

The heretic flailed his arms in the air, "See? You're the same as everyone else. They don't believe me. You must, or you'll be punished by the divine messenger!"

Heero grabbed the heretic by the collar of his shirt and hoisted him into the air, "I've heard more than I care to hear from this old man. This Overlord of yours is nothing more than something you conjured up with baseless speculation and crackpot theories."

Compa placed her hands over Heero's, "Please put him down, Heero!" Heero looked at Compa for a moment before letting go of the heretic and letting him fall to the ground.

The heretic slowly got back up, "You! You defeated several monsters to get here, right? You shall not escape your punishment! Leave, you foolishly, generally underdeveloped adolescents!"

Compa hid behind Heero's left arm, shaking slightly, "H-He's scaring me… What's gotten into him…?" Neptune was hiding behind Heero's right arm, "L-Let's just get outta here without him. He wants to stay and I don't want to force him to leave. Plus, he's very rude."

Xxx

The party was standing in an open field near a lake outside of the dungeon they had just been in. Heero, Compa and IF could tell by the expression on Neptune's face that she was brimming with excitement, "Didja hear that? An Overlord! That sounds so intense!"

IF looked back at the mouth of the dungeon, "Like Heero said, it's just more nonsense conjured up by that heretic. I hope he gets his comeuppance."

"Well, who knows? Monsters are taking over the world and Histy's totally in captivity." IF gave Neptune a questioning look, "Oh, yeah. What if that Histy person's playing us all like kazoos? She creates the monsters, lures out naïve little girl wanna-be heroes like you, then SNAP! Lures another one… and SNAP!"

It was then that Neptune and Heero could hear the voice of the person that the current topic was centered around, "(That simply is not true. Please Neptune, explain on my behalf."

Neptune looked up into the sky, as if that was where Histoire was, "Histy, you're here! I didn't think I'd hear from ya until we saved ya. Are you relaxing? You're all tied down, right?"

"(I am neither relaxing nor tied down. Please, explain to them that I am Histoire, the noble tome wh-)"

"All that aside, what's new?" Histoire was silent for a moment before responding, "(…I am reaching out to you and Heero to convey important plot-driving information. I cannot be certain how much longer I can continue communication like this. She will come for you any day now."

Neptune tilted her head to the side, "Who? Is this the 'she' who sealed you away?"

"(…Yes, but I was unable to muster the courage to utter her name. I still cannot treat her like a villain.)"

"But she is the villain, right? Or are you trying to say… you're the villain?"

Histoire responded in a slightly astonished tone of voice, "(No, no! Fine. I can hesitate no longer. Neptune, please be wary of Arfoire. She had become aware of your existence. She is also the reason I have asked Heero to assist you.)"

Neptune and Heero exchange glances, "Arfoire? She's the one who locked you up? And she's coming to fight us, huh?"

"(Please be careful. She is… Arfoire is…)" Neptune and Heero waited for Histoire to finish, however they heard nothing more from her and Neptune was growing slightly impatient, "…What about her? Did we get disconnected? Ugh, she should switch telepathy carriers."

Compa looked between Heero and Neptune, "I couldn't hear Histy's voice, but I think I understand what's happening on Nep-Nep and Heero's side. Maybe Arfoire intercepted the communication and cut her off."

Heero crossed his arms and closed his eyes, "The likelihood of that being the case is quite high. Unfortunately, if that is the case, Histoire has put herself in danger to get this information to us." IF had been gathering her thoughts for a moment before entering into the party's pow-wow, "…What if this Arfoire is the same as that Overlord Momus? They'd both be connected to creating the monsters."

Heero looked between Neptune and the capital city of Lastation, "In any event, it would in our best interest to return to our safe house. I will compile all of the information we have on hand into a file on my laptop, after that we should return to Passe and see if Chian has any work for us."

As Heero turned to walk in the direction of the city, he was struck by a sharp, intense pain in his chest. IF saw something on Heero's chest that made her eyes widen for a moment, then Heero started walking towards the town. IF glanced over at Neptune and Compa for a brief moment before returning her gaze to Heero, "Did either of you two see that?"

Neptune had a worried expression on her face, "You mean did I see my destined lover clutching his chest in pain? It was as plain as day!"

IF punched Neptune across her head, "I meant aside from what was blatantly obvious! For a second, I thought I saw… a relief of a skull and crossbones on Heero's chest."

Neptune tilted her head to the side, "Uh, a skull and crossbones? Are you saying Heero's a pirate or something, Iffy?" IF threw her hands into the air, "You're hopeless!"

Xxx

Once again, I apologize that my updates have not been as fast as they normally have been. On top of all the other reasons I had listed above, I got writer's block while I was trying to figure how I was going to get everyone's favorite tsundere Noire to fall for Heero (though from going back over my reviews, reading a few stories and manga, and playing a few video games I think I have a good idea how to make it play out.) Also, Heero will be getting his second transformation in the next chapter… try and figure out what it is before reading chapter 7 (technically chapter 6). Read and review, thanks!


	8. The Black Shadow and the X1 Pt2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or Hyperdimension Neptunia (though I wish I did.)**

Hello again, my readers on . I can't believe how fast the New Year has, personally it came a little too quickly because it did not give me any time to make my New Year's present for all you guys (and unfortunately, that includes the New Year's Special I was making.) I can always finish it and post it up, but it won't feel the same since it is not New Year's day anymore. Anyway, here is the next chapter of my story, enjoy!

Pairings include: HeeroXNeptune/Purple Heart, HeeroXIF, HeeroXNoire/Black Heart, HeeroXCompa, HeeroXVert/Green Heart, HeeroXBlanc/White Heart, HeeroXNisa, HeeroXGust, HeeroXHistoire (still debating on HeeroXRed, if you would like to see this pairing let me know), IFX Vert/Green Heart, IFX5pb, and IFXRed.

**Ch. 7 The Black Shadow and the X1 Pt. 2**

It was another… dark morning in Lastation due to the dark clouds overhead. Compa was waiting near a junkyard for Neptune, Heero and IF, as the three had said they needed to take care of.

Compa was sitting on a bench as she waited for her party members, "This is the first time I've been alone in a long time… I don't know when Nep-Nep, Heero and Iffy will be back…"

Compa suddenly heard what sounded like a boy crying, she looked to her left and saw a little boy sitting on the ground, "Huh? Is he crying all by himself? Is he lost?" Compa walked over to the crying child, "Hello there Mr. Boy, are you alone? Where's your mommy?"

"Wah! I hate my mom! She won't gimme what I want!"

Compa tilted her head, "So you aren't lost? What did you ask your mommy for?"

"I wanted the newest model of a game console for my birthday present. But she said I should just get an older one." Compa scratched her cheek, "Hmm. Even though you asked for the newest?"

"Yeah. The old one was really popular and made the console makers famous… But it can't even play movies…"

"I see. But I'm sure you'd still enjoy playing with the old model. You should listen to your mother. She knows best!" The boy stomped his foot, "No! I want the newest one! Why don't you buy it for me? C'mon!"

Compa took a step back and gave the boy a surprised look, "Wh-Why would I do that?"

"Why wouldn't you?! C'mon! Why not?" The nurse-in-training began to shuffle nervously, "B-Because, um… P-Please don't confuse me with this logic!"

"…Fine. You sure you should act like that to a kid? I could make you cry and beg for forgiveness right now if I wanted. Heh."

"How…? Th-That's impossible! But… I think I should escape just in case he tries…" Compa looked for anything she could use to aid in her escape of the manipulative child in front of her before opting to use one of the oldest tricks in the book. Compa pointed in the direction behind the boy, "Oh, looky, isn't that your mom over there?"

"Huh?!" As the boy turned in the direction that Compa was pointing, the pink haired nurse turned in the opposite direction ,"Now's my chance!"

Compa ran as fast as her legs would allow her, and she could hear the boy shouting at her, "Liar! Come back! Come back right noooooow!"

Compa had been running for a good two minutes before she slowed down to a walk, "Phew. What was that all about? I think I should steer clear of this area for a little bit…"

Compa suddenly bumped into something and fell on her bottom, "Ow. Sorry, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going." When Compa looked up she saw a hand outstretched to her, then saw that it was Heero's hand, "Neptune, IF and I have been looking for you."

Compa was relieved to see a familiar face, "Sorry to worry you, Heero." Heero pulled the pink haired nurse to her feet, "We are planning to meet with Chian. It would be wise to grab your equipment."

Compa nodded at the Gundam Pilot before walking with him towards the safe house they were using.

Xxx

The party returned to Passe when Chian had gotten over the debilitating news about the cancelled Expo, the group entered the small restaurant and found Chian seated at one of the wooden tabled. The factory owner looked up to see the Neptune, Heero, Compa and IF enter the room, "I appreciate you all checking up on me. I'm all right now."

Compa looked at Chian with a look of concern, "Are you sure, Chian? The Tech Expo may be gone, but I'm sure there's another way to help!"

"I know. I'm not given up yet. The shop called and told me to gather up the materials I ordered a while ago. Could you get them real quick? You've still got the map, right? It should be pretty simple to find."

Neptune pumped her arms, "We've totally got this, let's move out people!"

Xxx

In order to get to the shop that was holding onto the parts that Chian had requested, the party would have to venture through another cave like dungeon. IF scanned the area in front of the entrance for moment, "Hey Heero, I think you're right. This is getting strangely repetitive."

The brunette looked over at the teen, who was beginning to breathe heavily, "Are you gonna be alright? You haven't exactly been feeling one hundred percent lately."

Heero nodded in response, "My condition is not so severe as to completely impair my ability to think or fight." Neptune suddenly snapped her fingers as if she came up with an idea, "Hey, maybe Heero's status ailment will go away if he gets a level up!"

IF crossed her arms and let out a sigh, "I would say it's a good idea, but we all leveled up yesterday from fighting all of those monsters remember? And Heero still doesn't look any better than he was yesterday."

The purple haired preteen lowered her head in defeat, "Oh… right."

The party advanced into the cave like dungeon that looked no different from the ones they had been in recently. As the group began to round the first corner they were met with a Chimera and two Vampire Bats. Because Heero's vision was slightly blurry from his weakened state, he was limited to close range fighting… though it did not change the way he fought.

After a quick fifteen seconds of combat, the three monsters were left lying on the ground with multiple slash wounds over their bodies. The rest of the trek through the cave was quite short, the exit was much closer than the party had thought and they even ran into fewer monsters than the day before.

Once they passed through the exit, the store was practically right in front of the party. Neptune burst into the shop without knocking or giving any form of warning, "Hi-hi! We're here to get Chian's stuff. Anyone here?"

Heero mentally sighed at Neptune, "She's a bull in a china shop." IF was snickering behind the teen, "You can say that again."

A man who the party believed to be the shop owner Chevre entered the room through a door behind the counter, "Oh, you're the performing quartet Chian mentioned? The bag's in the back. It's got a big label on it and it's fairly heavy."

IF walked out from behind Heero, "No sweat. I'm in command of these two girls with decent strength stats. They can carry anything." The brunette looked back at Heero, "Or we could get Heero to carry it. He's way stronger than they are, anything these two can carry together Heero can carry by himself."

"Great. Seems Chian found some lovely friends to help her out. She's been too high-strung ever since she took over after her father. I'm glad she's found people she can depend on. And it's about time she found a guy."

Neptune's eyes were in a half opened glare when the store owner said 'she found a guy' when the 'guy' he was talking about was Heero, "Yeah, sorry, but Heero's mine. We're destined lovers."

Chevre blinked a few times, "Destined lovers?" Heero crossed his arms, "We are not lovers, nor am I in any relationship with Chian."

Neptune rubbed the back of her head, "Y'know… we haven't met her pop yet. Could he be…? 1) Working on another planet. 2) A binge drinking gambling addict. 3) Impaled by a hedgehog. Answer away."

Compa gave Neptune an incredulous stare, "W-Wait, that third one is a little… oh, Nep-Nep, you're being rude." Chevre let out a sigh, "Unfortunately, the third is the closest. It's cliché, but he died in a tragic accident."

Compa tilted her head to the side, "How do you know Chian?"

"I've known her since she was born. I worked with her old man at the factory in Passe. But like the other factories, Avenir's claws dug deep and we had no choice but to abandon that place. Her mother asked me to come back after her father's death, but I'd already committed to this shop by then."

Compa had a slightly surprised look on her face, "So Chian became the president? Sounds really dramatic for some minor story characters…"

Neptune pointed her finger up at the ceiling in a dramatic pose, "Never fear! We'll right all the wrongs Avenir's committed and stuff!"

"That would be nice, but I doubt you can. Avenir is under direct protection of the Parliament." Neptune's shoulders sank, "Whaaaat? The Parliament is part of the Basilicom, right? Why'd they want to protect Avenir?"

Chevre scratched the top of his head, "I guess you wouldn't know. Avenir is still on the loose, even after putting so many people through misery… Because our Parliament simply refuses to do anything to stop them."

Heero began to lean on the one of the walls for support, "Avenir is a fairly large business firm and they garner more clients with time. With such a large amount of income, they could easily bribe any corrupt members of the Parliament… or it may be due to the fact that Avenir holds such a large part of the business market."

"Your friend is quite right, Parliament requires the votes of the people to execute an order. Avenir holds the biggest market on this landmass. Meaning they stand for the majority of Lastation's residents."

While Neptune and Compa were having difficulty comprehending what was being said, IF could easily see the logic in it, "I see. With Avenir on their side, they practically have enough support to do anything they want, as well."

"It's a small price to pay for them to ignore what Avenir is really doing. Avenir will continue to grow and Parliament will continue to collect favorable votes. It'll only get worse."

IF crossed her arms and looked down in contemplation, "I never knew this. Sounds like we really should focus some effort on this Avenir business."

After Heero walked into the back room and retrieved the bag of materials the party was sent to get, the group departed the store and returned to the city to plan their next move.

Xxx

After delivering the materials, the party returned to the hotel room they were staying at. Neptune was lounging around doing nothing, Heero was on his laptop and IF was watching a TV show on her cell phone. The door to the room swung open and Compa walked into the room, "Today's job is to rescue an Avenir employee!"

Compa cleared her throat to recite the job request, "Ahem. 'The train was attacked by monsters. Please save the survivor!'"

Neptune looked at the nurse-in-training in disbelief, "Whatwhatwhat? Helping Avenir again? I dunno about helping out our sworn nemesis! Besides, don't their employees carry giant boomsticks they make at their factories?"

IF looked up from her cell phone, "Chian said Avenir doesn't make weaponry for human use, due to their president's motto." The tone of Compa's voice suggested that she was ashamed of Neptune, "Plus, the employees themselves aren't bad people. You shouldn't be picky about which lives deserve saving, Nep-Nep! There is no line to draw when saving lives. Now, let's hurry over to the site where the train was attacked."

Xxx

The job the party had accepted required them to enter a cave type dungeon, Heero found it strangely disturbing that every dungeon they had been to that was not one of Neptune's 'optional quests' had been the same rocky cave with stalagmites and stalactites growing along the walls, and blue fluorescent crystal scattered all over the walls.

The party advanced into the cave, they noticed that they were not attacked after being there for more than five seconds. After traversing the fairly straight forward cave for a minute they ran into their first group of monsters, though all three of the monsters were identical to one another.

The monsters were 'Zephyranthes', plant like creatures with long vines for arms and very skinny legs. Heero pinched the bridge of his nose before taking a hold of his HDD disk, "…Like I said, the monster keep getting more and more weird."

Heero was now encased in his multi-colored armor and he raised his buster rifle to the three plant like creatures before pulling the trigger and a large blast of thermal energy escaped from the rifle barrel and vaporized the group of monsters. IF stared at the black marks on the ground where the monsters had been, "Was that really necessary?"

Any expression or look on Heero's face was hidden behind the metal mask over his face, "It was the most efficient course of action. We cannot afford to waste any time."

The party continued on into the cave after their very short confrontation, half of the way in the party was attacked by another group of monsters. One was a Zephyranthes, while the other two looked like the Killer Rabbits they had once encountered; only they were bigger and were classified as 'Giant Rabbit'.

Neptune's HDD disk appeared, surrounded in binary code and the preteen puled the disk towards herself, "Transform!" When her transformation was complete, the stronger, more serious and mature Neptune brandished her sword at the monsters in front of her, "I can't let Heero have all the fun, now can I?"

Neptune swiftly cut down the Zephyranthes in front of her with the least possible movements, leaving three deep slash wounds on the plant before it ceased any and all movement. Compa fired a shot from her syringe right in-between the first Giant Rabbit's eyes, then a second shot that forced her onto her butt from the recoil and caused a small explosion that left the large mammal a charred mess.

IF dropped kicked the second Giant Rabbit, delivered two quick slashes to its torso with her Katars, and fired three bullets at the rabbit with a gun or some other kind of projectile weapon hidden in her jacket sleeve, all the while complaining that her sleeves were too long.

Neptune glanced at the defeated monsters before directing her attention down the rocky path, "These monsters are no challenge at all. We should be finished in no time."

As the party rounded the curve in the dungeon, Compa caught sight of a monster symbol on the ground. The dark circle thrummed with the evil of the monster sealed within, Compa pulled out her gold bell while looking at the party, "Does everyone want to fight the monster?"

IF let out an irritated sigh, "We don't have time to waste fighting every single monster. Let's just find the Avenir employee, and get out."

Neptune was looking at the symbol on the ground with an intense stare, "I think we should. By defeating this monster, we should all level up, but more importantly it may help Heero overcome whatever it is that ails him. If it does then that's good for us, if not then we can check it off the list of possible ways for us to cure Heero."

The logical side of IF's mind told her that they should not waste time with the monster and continue with the mission, however her feelings were telling her screw the mission and help Heero. Ultimately, her feelings won out against her logic. The brunette crossed her arms and averted her gaze from Heero, "Oh, whatever, I guess we have some time."

Heero's gaze fell to the ground, as if he was ashamed of himself, "Had I not contracted this strange illness, we would not have to waste our time with this."

Even with his thick armored body, Heero still felt Neptune's hand on his back, "Don't worry about it so much, Heero. We know you would do the same for us… or at least for me." The purple haired swordstress clench her fist and returned her attention to the monster symbol, a bright gleam in her eyes, "Besides, I'm always in the mood for a good fight against a strong monster."

Compa and IF weren't sure whether Neptune really wanted to help Heero, or if she just wanted to fight. Compa stood in the middle of the symbol and began to ring the gold bell, "Here Mr. Monster! Don't be shy!"

A small, pale monster poked its head out from behind a row of stalagmites before coming out from behind cover. Heero glanced over at Neptune and judging by the look on her, she was disappointed, "I wanted to fight against a strong monster, not a weakling."

The monster now known as a Clione seemed to understand human speech, as it looked very upset when Neptune called it weak. The party was surprised when the small monster ripped a stalagmite more than six times its size, and threw it at them.

The group more or less scrambled to get out of the way, so they would not be flattened or impaled. IF stared at the now broken stalagmite, "It may be small, but it's pretty strong… This is bad, right?"

As the Clione began to hoist up another stalagmite, Heero aimed his Buster Rifle at the monster, "Target… Locked on." The rifle fired a familiar beam of yellowish-gold thermal energy that sped towards the pale looking monster. The powerful beam vaporized the hunk of rock the Clione had pulled and effortlessly forced the small monster into a wall.

When the beam dissipated, the Clione was slowly sliding down the wall and looked slightly charred, though it was alive. It quickly shook itself out of its daze, grabbed another stalagmite and hurled it straight at IF. As the brunette was about to move, she stumbled over a piece of the stalagmite that had broken against the floor, "(Crap! Why is it that I have to trip over something now?!)"

Just as the hunk of rock was about to crush IF, she closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable. Yet it did not come, and she felt completely weightless, when she opened her eyes she was looking at Heero's armored face. Then she looked down when she felt something rough against her chest and her face reddened, "H-Heero! Why are you touching me like this?!"

Heero quickly let go of the brunette, "I apologize, I had not intended to grab you in such an indecent manner." IF looked away from Heero, her hands over her chest, "The next time you decide to grope them like that, at least be more gentle! There's no need to be so rough."

In IF's mind she was singing quite a different tune, "(Heero touched my breasts… Heero touched my breasts… Heero touched MY breasts…)"

Neptune glanced at Heero and IF, and there was hint of jealousy in her eyes. Heero had touched Compa's breasts, IF's breasts, he had even touched the breasts of the mystery girl who had attacked them… Neptune was the only member of the party whose breasts had not been touched by Heero, and considering that she was his destined lover… that left her feeling more than just a little upset.

Neptune glared at the Clione, "I need to vent." The monster froze under her ice cold glare. When the Heero, Compa and IF returned their attention to the monster, Neptune had already begun to viciously beat it, slash it, shoot it… anything that inflicted pain on the monster.

When it seemed that Neptune was finished, the swordstress grabbed the Clione by its head and threw it right at the wall. Neptune had used so much force that the monster stuck to the cave wall. Neptune exhaled a breath of air she had been holding in and turned back to the rest of her party, who were staring at her, "…What? I got caught up in the moment."

The twin braided swordstress walked over to Heero until she was in front of him, "More importantly, do you feel any better, Heero?"

"…Quite unchanged." Neptune frowned, "I was hoping that you would feel well, but if you can't feel the benefits of leveling up then whatever this status ailment is, it's quite serious."

IF crossed her arms as her eyes roamed over Heero's armored body, "Serious? I think screwed up is more appropriate. What kind of status ailment keeps your stats from going up when you level up?"

The green see-through eyes of Heero's armor flashed for a brief moment, "Rather than wasting time worrying about that, we should finish the mission." The party continued into the dungeon, once they rounded the second corner they were in front of a room with a large fluorescent crystal growing in the center of it.

Neptune was the first to enter the room, followed by Heero, and then Compa and IF. Almost immediately after entering the room, the party caught sight of a man sitting against the cave wall, then made their way over to him with Neptune still in front, "…Good, your safe. You're the Avenir employee, I presume?"

Heero looked at the front of the young man's suit below the left shoulder and saw his employee ID with his name next to his photo, the young employee's name was Ganache. The young man stood up and dusted himself off, "I'm honored to be rescued by such a beautiful lady, but… who are you?" Compa poked out from behind Heero, "Are you the employee we were asked to save? Your company requested we come here and get you."

"Oh, Ms. Compa and IF. Where's Ms. Neptune? I'd expect her to be running around in here causing havoc before you."

Neptune had a quizzical look on her face as she looked at the Avenir employee, "…Have we met before? I apologize, but I don't recall your face. How… could I forget someone I've met?"

The look the young man had on his face suggested that he was quite surprised, "Oh… Oh?! A-Are you Ms. Neptune? My, my. You've gone through… quite the transformation. You were a spunky little girl when I saw you at the… well, nevermind. Please ignore my ramblings."

The Ganache scanned over the party for a brief moment, "I had also heard that you had another companion with you. I believe he was Mr. Heero, is he not with you?"

IF pointed at Heero, who stood silently behind the three girls, "He's right here, though I can understand you not knowing that." The Avenir employee eyed Heero with great fascination, "I was told that Mr. Heero was a teenager… Has Planeptune been working on the creation of combat robots?"

Heero glared at the young employee, though no one could tell because the see through glass could not move, "I was not created by anyone."

"It's capable of speech and independent thought as well? I've never seen such an advanced weapon before… If you were to enter it in the Expo, it would win hands down."

Neptune looked irked from how the Ganache referred to Heero as an 'it', "I would appreciate it if you would stop referring to Heero as a thing. He is human when he hasn't transformed."

"I'm sorry, I was told that Mr. Heero was also serving as your bodyguard… is he part-time or something?"

Neptune glanced at Heero from the corner of her eye, and Heero knew all too well what she was going to say, "(Not again…)"

"Heero is my full time bodyguard… and destined lover." Ganache blinked a few times in surprise, "…Destined lover?" Heero glared at Neptune, but once again it was useless to do so while in his Gundam transformation, "We are not lovers."

The twin braided swordstress turned to face Heero, "Why do you keep denying it, Heero? Does it make you embarrassed?"

"How can I deny something when it is not even true to begin with?" Ganache watched the exchange between Neptune and Heero, "You two bicker like lovers, so it must be true."

A triumphant smirk made its way onto Neptune's face, "See? Another unbiased opinion about our relationship. It's clear to me that we belong together, Heero."

Heero was restraining his sudden urge to kill the person that the party had been sent to rescue, "Anyway, sorry for all the trouble. I was running around, prepping for the Tech Expo, but I was attacked by monsters on the way."

Compa eyes widened slightly, "Tech Expo? I thought it was cancelled!"

"Well, no. It'll go on as it usually does. Perhaps the news hasn't made it to the public yet. Please, forget what I said!" IF cocked an eyebrow, "How could we? Chian was so disappointed… If you're telling the truth, this'll be great news for her."

Neptune had her hand under her chin as she gathered her thoughts, "…That's true. You said you're preparing for the Expo. What does Avenir plan to showcase?"

The Avenir employee eyed the party for a moment, "Oh, come now. Do I look like I've got loose lips? A big mouth? Do I seem like a stool pidgeon? I can't just tell you! ...But between you and me, we've been preparing for this Expo since the company started. Which means this is something that's been in the preparation stages for three years! I'm sure you'll eventually learn more about the Expo if you tune into the radio."

Neptune and Heero listened to Ganache silently, with each passing second they began to find him both suspicious and untrustworthy.

Xxx

After escorting the Avenir employee back to his place of work, the party went out on a whim and searched a random cave like dungeon to see if they could find a Key Fragment or any clues that would help them find it.

The group searched the cave top to bottom, but their efforts turned up nothing. As Neptune, Heero, Compa and IF made their way back to the entrance of the cave, a familiar face was waiting for them, the girl who had attacked them the previous day, "You know, you really stand out when you're in that form. You ought to stay like that all the time."

Compa seemed slightly surprised that the mystery girl from before had decided to confront them, "Whoa, you again? You're persistent. Nep-Nep, you should hurry and… Oh yeah, you already transformed."

Neptune directed her attention at the white haired girl, "…You wish to fight again? You've lost once already. Care to make it twice?" The mystery girl clenched her fist as her anger grew, "Tch! I like that you know just how to tick me off. Makes me want to hit you for massive damage!"

"Before that, I'd like to know why you're coming after me. I apologize for any wrongdoings I committed in the past, but Heero, Compa and Iffy need more clarification."

The white haired girl narrowed her eyes, "We're destined rivals, but I don't need to explain myself to you. If you want to know, defeat me first!"

Neptune contemplated what she meant by 'destined rivals', "Destined… rivals…?" Neptune tried to decipher what the two words could have possibly meant for her, but then thought back to the day before and came to a single conclusion which caused Neptune to narrow her eyes, "So that's what you mean... You're here to steal Heero from me."

The white haired girl's eyes widened considerably, "Wh-What makes you think I'm here for him?!"

"You pretended to fight Heero yesterday just so you could seduce him." The mystery girl's cheeks grew more and more red with each passing second, "H-He fell on me, remember?!"

The beautiful purple haired swordstress clenched her fists, "I don't buy any of your lies. But even if that was true, it was rather convenient that you happened to be right there when Heero fell."

"Uh… w-well…" The white haired girl was having difficulty arguing with Neptune's logic. Neptune brandished her sword at the girl, "I thought I told you that Heero was my lover, not yours."

"W-Well good for you! I'm not here for him anyway!" Neptune turned to face Heero, "Heero, I want you to stay out of this fight. I don't want her trying to seduce you like last time."

The white haired girl stomped her foot, "Are you even listening to me?!" Any normal guy would say that Heero was one lucky bastard to have these women fighting over him (though the white haired girl was not interested in him), but Heero had hoped that by now he had established the fact that he was not a 'normal guy'. He did not know what to think about his current situation, but did as he was told and stayed on the sidelines.

Neptune returned her attention to the mystery girl, "If you want Heero, you will have to defeat me first." The white haired swordstress brandished her sword at Neptune, "Don't worry, I plan on beating you."

"So you admit to wanting Heero for yourself." By this point the mystery girl's cheeks were rosy red, "You haven't been listening to a word I've said-"

Neptune was already upon the swordstress and both girls locked swords, and Neptune was right in the white haired girls face, "I won't give him up to you without a fight."

As Compa and IF joined in on the battle against the mystery girl, Heero found a smooth rock to sit on, "(This could be a while...)"

The fight had gone on for a good five minutes and both sides were at a stalemate. Compa and IF attempted to rush the mystery girl only to have their attacks blocked or dodged, unfortunately for the white haired swordstress she was too preoccupied with Compa and IF that she did not see Neptune closing on her from behind.

Neptune swung her large katana at the white haired girl and struck her right arm, the force of the attack was enough to disarm the girl long enough for IF deliver a kick to her lower back and for Compa to fire a shot at her left leg.

Though she was taking a beating, the white haired swordstress quickly retrieved her sword and went straight for Neptune. The purple haired swordstress quickly ducked under the mystery girl's sword, and swiftly struck her in her abdomen. The attack knocked her opponent back and she doubled over.

When the white haired girl looked up, Neptune was already standing in front of her, "…I won again. Spill it."

The mystery girl clenched her fists, "You look the same, but you've changed so much. How can you look so proud while involving humans?"

"You initiated the battle. Tell me about who I am." The white haired girl was silent for a moment, "No way! I'll admit this was a draw, but there's no way Lastation has lost!"

Heero raised a questioning eyebrow, while Compa tilted her head, "What are you bringing up Lastation for? What are you talking about?! I know! What if Lastation is actually a huge transforming robot…?"

IF stared at Compa for a few seconds, "That's fresh. It's possible on Planeptune, but here? I don't think so." The white haired girl sniped at IF, "Don't talk down about my homeland! You'll definitely regret it one day!"

The mystery girl quickly stood up and began to run away from the party, "She's running away! Nep-Nep, get her! …Whoa, y-you're already…?"

When Compa turned around, Neptune had reverted to her normal, energetic self, "Aww, candy wrappers. I'm outta juice today. Until next time, lady. Well, let's go back and get some yummy food."

Heero was left to wonder how Neptune was so quick to forget about her mysterious assailant for food.

Xxx

Upon returning to the city the party immediately went straight to Passe and delivered the news they had heard from the Avenir employee to Chian. The factory owner's face was a mixture of relief and worry, "Are you sure the Expo is still on? I can't let myself get my hopes up if it's not true."

IF rolled her eyes at Chian, "Oh, please. You owe us for coming here to tell you." Everyone in the room turned their attention to the radio, _"…Broadcasting public information from the Basilicom. The Tech Expo, said to be cancelled a few days ago, is now re-opened under the sponsorship of the Parliament."_

Neptune had her hands on her hips, "See, told ya! The Expo's on like monkey kong! You heard it too, right everyone?" Chian furrowed her brow, "Yeah, but… Parliament sponsorship? What do you think that means?"

Compa carried a worried expression on her face, "I have a bad feeling… actually, I think I have only bad feelings about this." IF crossed her arms, "We heard what that employee said. They've been preparing three years for this."

"The Expo's theme is 'weaponry,' but that was only decided on this year. How could they have prepared without knowing…? But if they knew in advance… No, what if they're the ones who forced the decision?!"

Heero looked up from his laptop, which was situated in front of him, "It is the most likely conclusion. Avenir controls a large part of the market and represents the majority of this landmass's population, the Parliament needs a number of votes in order to get anything done. Both parties stand to gain by supporting one another, however the one who truly benefit from this relationship is Avenir. As it stands Avenir has the Parliament under its thumb, and unless they give in to their demands the Parliament will lose Avenir's support and they would be stripped of their power, hence the reason why the Expo was first cancelled, and then re-opened under the sponsorship of the Parliament."

Compa's eyes widened, "Th-That's cheating! Do you really think Avenir had this planned out since their company's foundation?" IF had her hand balled into a loose fist and placed under her chin, "True. It's a lot of effort just to get attention. They must be draping a cloak over their real objective."

"They're probably planning to absorb the entire industry. The Expo is perfect for them to flex their mechanical muscles." Neptune tilted her head, "For reals?"

"Who knows. All I'm certain of is Singe, the representative, wishes to replace everything on Lastation with machines!" Neptune looked at Chian with wide eyes, "Wh-Wh-What? He wants a world of robots? Does he have a machine fetish? *Gasp* Is he a cyborg looking for love?"

"He just hates humans. He doesn't know how to trust them. Avenir has a ton of employees, but all the manufacturing is done by machines. There's little for humans to do there. Most are in marketing or run errands like buying materials… They just support the machines."

Compa looked out the window towards the center of the city, "I see. Then, there must be very few humans working at their headquarters."

"Right. Anyway, I hope nothing bad happens at the Expo…" Heero suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest, "(Damn… not now…!)" Heero stood up from his seat and quickly made his way out of the restaurant, though he garnered some attention in his rush to get out, "Has your friend not gotten better?"

Neptune had a worried look on her face, "He's still feeling super weak. We tried all kinds of stuff to make Heero feel better, but it all did a whole lot of nothin'."

Xxx

Heero was behind the factory, he was clutching his chest as he was assaulted by another wave of pain. A sword suddenly appeared in his free hand, though it was not the GN Sword he had been using. The sword had a skull and crossbones relief on it, two handles, one of which a trigger on it, and the 'sword blade' had fourteen openings along the sides where the blade's sharp edges should have been, seven on each side.

In one quick movement faster than the eye could perceive, Heero slashed the side of the factory. Heero left to return to the others, but what seemed like a simple slash was really Heero carving something onto the wall, and the design looked like a skull and crossbones.

Xxx

The party decided to take a break in a park in Lastation. Neptune was complaining about the long walk, "Hey, can we rest our tootsies here? We've been trucking along all day!"

Compa began to shuffle around nervously, "R-Right here? Can we, maybe, wait until we find somewhere else…?" Neptune stopped to look at the nurse-in-training, "What's up? You're even more timid than usual."

"I had a… a really bad encounter with a boy here while waiting for you three all alone." Neptune put her hands on her hips, "Huh? You mean a man, right? Not a little boy?"

IF looked up from her cell phone, "Oh. Was he picking on you or something? You're an easy target since you're too nice and quiet to stand up for yourself."

Compa rapidly shook her head, "N-No! The boy was really… I don't know how to say it, but…"

"Oh, it's you again!" Compa froze when she heard the voice of boy behind her, she turned around and saw the boy who had picked on her from before, "Ack! You're…!"

Neptune looked at the boy who couldn't have been older than seven years of age, "Are you the ragamuffin who made fun of Compa?"

"I didn't make fun. I just tried to teach her a lesson for not giving me what I wanted." The preteen tilted her head, "Teach her a lesson? He's a little bit of a cornballer…"

"My birthday's coming up, so why don't you all chip in and buy me a new console?" Compa hid behind Heero, "You said your birthday was coming up last time!"

"My mom said she'd buy me the second-gen console off an internet auction. Sure, it plays movies and technically monopolized the gaming industry, but that's why I want the third one! C'mon! Buy me the newest one! Please!"

IF alternated between looking at the boy and Compa, "Wh-What the hell's wrong with this brat? Compa, what's going on here?" The pink haired nurse was gripping onto Heero's denim jacket, "Th-That's why I wanted us to rest somewhere else. I didn't want to get involved with him again!"

"You're so mean to me… I'm going to join your party and keep bugging you until you buy me one! Okay?" Neptune looked somewhat surprised, "Whoa, that's some devotion and commitment or something. I'm kinda touched by your passion… The lady with the leafy ribbon says she'll buy you one!"

IF shot an irritated look at Neptune, "What?! No, I did not!" Neptune assumed her thinking position, "Then how's about this dealie? One grope of Compa's left boob and we'll call it even."

Compa, who was still hiding behind Heero, threw her arms over her chest, "Leave my boobies alone! (B-But… I wouldn't mind if… Heero wanted to squeeze them…)" Neptune began to poke Compa's arm, "Oh, c'mon. Just cuz yours are bigger than ours. Right, Iffy?"

IF's eye began to twitch, "Don't turn this lecherous crap on me! Huh? The boy's acting weird…" The boy was indeed acting weird, as he was starting to drool a little, "B-…Boobs. Boobies. Boobilicious, sexy-jiggly booby bubbies. Boob times two equals twin boobage…"

IF shook her head, "Great! Nep's boob talk was a bit too stimulating for this little boy!" Neptune turned to Compa, "Compa, now's our chance. Run!"

Compa looked as though she was about to cry, "This really… sucks!" As Compa was about to run, Heero quickly swept her off her feet, which prompted Neptune and IF to shoot dirty looks at her, "Hey! You scoring more points on me, Compa?!"

Heero maintained an emotionless façade, "As Compa is the target of that child, I will take it upon myself to remove her from this area. Unfortunately, you two will have to make your own means of escape." Heero ran straight towards a stack of crates, leapt up to the top of the stack, and jumped onto the roof of a nearby building. Neptune was shouting 'Compa you traitor!' the entire time.

While Heero was running along the rooftops looking for a suitable place to stop, Compa was swooning in the teen's arms, "My hero…" Heero eventually stopped at a café nearby, he put Compa down so she could climb down the ladder and he leapt off the side of the building.

Compa's cheeks were slightly red at this point, "Th-Thank you, Heero." The Perfect Soldier nodded his head, "It would be best to stay away from that area for a while."

Compa had a rare moment alone with Heero and wanted to make the most of it, until Neptune and IF arrived, "How about we get something to eat? We can wait here for Nep-Nep and Iffy."

"If that is what you want, I will not object." Compa and Heero entered the small eating establishment and were seated at a table outside. Heero had pulled Compa's chair out for her so she would not have to do it herself, "You're a real gentlemen, Heero."

Once Compa was seated, Heero sat next to her and pulled his laptop out from his backpack. He set the PC on the table, waited for it to boot up, then went to the Lastation homepage and clicked on the tab labeled 'Goddess Blog', Compa looked over at the laptop screen as Heero pulled up the blog, "I didn't know you were interested in this kind of thing, Heero."

"I have been checking any and all sources of information that I can find that could tell us about the Tech Expo, Avenir, the state of the landmass, or the Key Fragment that is supposed to be on this landmass. I have not found anything yet."

As Heero was waiting for the blog to pull up, Compa looked up and saw Neptune and IF giving her dirty looks. The duo let themselves in and sat down at the table Heero and Compa were seated, "I'm soooo not letting you score points with Heero on me like that again!"

Neptune soon forgot about Compa when a waiter came by to take their orders.

Xxx

Elsewhere on the landmass, specifically in one of the Basilicoms, Ganache was meeting with Lady Black Heart and the CPU had locked everyone else from the Basilicom out of her room.

The Avenir employee directed his attention to the only other person in the room, "Hello. I never expected to be able to meet with Lady Black Heart alone."

Lady Black Heart, as she was referred to, looked to be a teenager with fair-pale skin, she had long black hair that was about waist length and worn in two long pigtails with two black and blue ribbons, her bangs that framed her face were neatly combed and she had lovely blood red eyes.

She wore a fancy dress that was black, blue, white and red with gold lining and buttons, the CPU also had a blue ribbon with a small piece of gold on the center and it was tied to a black and white collar around her neck.

Lady Black Heart had a hand on her hip, "I'm glad you feel that way about me, despite being from a different land. Still, I've no time to waste chatting. Let's get right to it. Neptune is stronger than I anticipated and, of course, she'll continue to grow in strength."

"So we should deal with her immediately? If it's for you, I'd collect every weapon possible and face her tomorrow. But realistically, I doubt I can do that so quickly. We shouldn't rush into this."

The CPU waited for Ganache to finish, "I'm not telling you to or anything, but… Whaddaya think? Will your plan truly succeed?"

"I've been observing the little Neptune for a while. I'm sure it'll go as expected. Just sit back and wait for us to take her down. I'll stake the Guild's pride on it."

Lady Black Heart raised a questioning eyebrow, "…What of the representative? I can't understand what he's thinking. Is he fine with this or not?"

"I don't think he likes me all that much, but it's irrelevant. He's got his own way of dealing with things." The Avenir employee looked out one of the large windows in the room, "Now that I think about it…. There is one X-factor that could change the outcome of the plan."

The CPU was irked, however she kept it hidden from the Avenir employee, "You thought of this now? What is this X-factor you're talking about?"

"Neptune's bodyguard, a guy named Heero." Lady Black Heart's eyes widened for a moment, "Does he by any chance have brown hair, a lean body and blue eyes?"

"Yes… how did you know?" Lady Black Heart turned her back to Ganache, "I… have my sources… anyway, you said this guy is Neptune's bodyguard?"

"He is certainly a mystery. According to Neptune, Heero is her bodyguard twenty-four seven. Some of the reports I've dug up suggest that he may be stronger than Neptune. Whether that's true or not I don't know, but I do know that he's sharper, smarter, and more observant and aware of danger than Neptune. He may see my plan a mile away..."

The CPU turned back around, "You can leave now, I have a lot of work to do." Once Ganache had left, Lady Black Heart looked out one of the windows in her room, "…I need to find out more about this Heero." The CPU's eye began to twitch, "…And figure out why Neptune keeps thinking I'm trying to seduce him."

Xxx

Chapter 7… done! I'm SO sorry that my updates haven't been coming out faster, I blame my lack of sleep and now with school starting back up it may take a little longer for me to update. Half of me wanted to make this chapter longer, but the other half wanted to make a part 3, so I would need something for that chapter. The plot thickens and Heero will get his second transformation in part three… and he will start to develop his relationship with his future harem girl and everyone's favorite tsundere Noire. I also left another clue as to what the new transformation will be. Read and review, thanks!


	9. The Black Shadow and the X1 Pt3

Me: Okay my readers, I think I have made you wait long enough (maybe a little too long in my case), but this chapter will feature the starting of the 'relationship' between Heero and Noire as well as Heero's second transformation. Please note in the story that I decided to use the SD Gundam level up system to explain why Heero's transformations can 'Level Up'. This will be shown in the chapters following this one.

Heero: (Walks in and stands in front of author (me) "Why is it that you have me stuck with this mysterious illness? My fighting capacity has suffered because of it."

Me: "I thought it would make for an interesting way to introduce more transformations into the story, besides you'll get over it before the chapter is finished. But is that all you came to ask me about?"

Heero: "No. I also came to ask you why you have me with this so called 'Harem'?"

Neptune: (Comes running and glompes Heero from behind) "Whatcha doin', Heero? I thought we were only part of the story, I didn't know we could be part of the intro to the chapter, too!"

Compa: (Walks in behind Neptune) "This is the first time we've been a part of the introduction to a chapter. Do I look okay?"

IF: (Comes in after Compa) "Does it really matter how you look? I know first impressions are important, but…"

Me: "Cut! Before we go completely off topic, to answer your question, Heero, about why I have you stuck in a harem? Well, I'll answer your question with a question of my own; why WOULDN'T you want to be in a harem? You have these three lovely ladies who are totally into you. And you're going to have more girls in your harem in future chapters!"

IF: (Turns around with a slightly red face) "I-I-I'm not 'into' Heero! I just have a lot of respect for him that's all."

Me: (Walks over to IF) "Come now, Iffy. Surely you feel something from being around Heero. (Leans in and whispers into IF ear), "Besides…"

IF: (Listens intently and her faces turns a darker shade of red before turning to face the author) "You… really mean it…?"

Me: (Nods) Absolutely! It may take some work, but you'll get it eventually."

Compa: "How many more girls are going to be in the harem?"

Me: "…I'm not telling."

Neptune: "What? You mean I gotta work harder to get Heero? That sucks!"

Me: "Well, I guess that means you better get to work then, huh? (Thrusts index finger out) Neptune! Read the disclaimer if you would."

Neptune: (Picks up a large cue card and reads off it) "HeeroUzuki does not own Gundam Wing, Hyperdimension Neptunia, or anything related to it… but he says he totally wishes that he did. And I want my 'M' rated scene with Heero!"

Me: "Who says we're stopping at 'M'?"

Neptune: (Turns to author with a gleam in her eyes) "What? So we're gonna go past 'M'? Really?!"

Me: "Maybe… Anyway, Read and enjoy, people! Thanks!" (Glances over at Heero, Neptune, Compa and IF) "(Now wave and get into position people, we're about to start the chapter!)"

Heero, Neptune, Compa and IF: (Wave to reader(s) (you), then run off set with the author.)

Xxx

Pairings include: HeeroXNeptune/Purple Heart, HeeroXIF, HeeroXNoire/Black Heart, HeeroXCompa, HeeroXVert/Green Heart, HeeroXBlanc/White Heart, HeeroXNisa, HeeroXGust, HeeroXHistoire, HeeroX5pb, HeeroXRed, IFX Vert/Green Heart, IFX5pb, and IFXRed.

**Ch. 8 The Black Shadow and the X1 Pt. 3**

The party was on their way to meet with their contact about a job request they had accepted… though Neptune voiced her doubts the entire time. Few jobs reached the factories of Lastation for an obvious reason; Avenir was monopolizing the industry and businesses were starting to go under… rather more businesses were starting to.

While Neptune was against helping Avenir, Heero and IF had to point out that their travel fund would suffer if they did not accept any work that was available… even if it meant helping the 'Bad Guys' as Neptune referred to them. Compa and IF hoped that the assignment would at least help the preteen vent.

The party was standing outside of a factory when they met the contact, and it was a face that the party recognized and did not exactly care for, "You're the ones Avenir hired to fight monsters? What the hell's that company thinking?"

Neptune had her hands on her hips, "Heeeeey, you're the meaniepoo who kicked us out when we first went to the Basilicom! What're you doin' here?"

"I'm substituting for an Avenir employee. They asked me to explain the job to you. You are to defeat as many monsters per their specifications as you can and deliver the bodies, dead or alive."

IF gave the moderator a questioning look, "Why do they want the monsters? Are you sure that's what they said?" Compa tilted her head to the side, "Maybe they need their hides. But over-predation will drive a monster species to extinction!"

"Who trades monster hides anyway? Monsters should become extinct. If you have questions, just ask the damn employee later."

Heero directed his attention to the rundown factory and Neptune looked at Heero's face, "Ooooh, Heero has a super serious look on his face. Whatcha thinkin' about? Is it dangerous?"

Heero had his GN Sword armed as he walked towards the derelict manufacturing facility, "I will carry out the mission… But I have my doubts about their intentions."

Xxx

Once inside, the first thing that Heero noticed was that the dungeon did not look like a cave, but a metalworks factory like the first dungeon that he, Neptune and Compa had gone to for their 'Tutorial', "(…I half expected this place to look like a cave, as crazy as it sounds.)"

As the party made their way into the factory, Heero could hear the sound of metal on metal contact… and it was close. As soon as the party reached the split in the path at the end of the corridor, three small machines with round, silver bodies, two small legs, an antennae on their backs and a single gun barrel sticking out front came out from behind the corner of the walls, two on the left and one on the right.

As Heero questioned whether or not the autonomous weapons could really be considered monsters, the gun barrels on the small 'Automatic Turrets' began to glow. Neptune's mouth was in the shape of a ring, "Ooooh, what are those monsters doing?"

Streaks of energy shot out of the gun barrels of the small automatons that began to damage the factory walls, "What the hell?! That jerk… he didn't tell us there would be monsters like this!"

Compa was hiding behind a stack of crates as the three turrets continued to fire upon the party, "I-Iffy! What do we do?!"

"Damnit, how should I know?! I've never fought monsters like these before!" IF was not having much luck in closing the distance between herself and the monsters, Neptune was literally jumping all over the place trying to dodge the attacks aimed at her, "Why are they going after me?! They should go after the healer!"

Heero took cover behind another stack of crates and attempted to eliminate the walking turrets from a distance, however due to his poor condition his accuracy was terrible and all of his shots missed as a result, "(My combat performance is still degrading…)"

The Perfect Soldier kicked over the stack of wooden crates he was behind and kicked one of the boxes towards the automatons as a distraction, while reaching for his HDD disk, "(This is unacceptable. This weapon should be held in reserve, instead I have been forced to use it frequently.)"

As the small robots took aim at the wooden crate, Heero had finished his transformation. When the Automatic Turrets fired, the inanimate wooden object split into hundreds of splinters, but the individual behind it was unscathed. Heero drew out the beam saber hidden in the compartment on his shield and rushed the first turret while it was still recharging.

The thermal weapon experienced no resistance from the robot's metal body, which turned a bright yellowish-orange as the saber severed through its metal body. After the beam saber cut through, the Automatic Turret turned into a pile of scrap parts once it exploded.

Heero looked over at Neptune to see her beating on one of the two remaining machines with her wooden sword, "C'mon! Go down already! I want experience points!"

Neptune was too busy beating on the second Automatic Turret that she did not see the third one ready to shoot her in the back, "Damn…!"

The thrusters lining the back of Heero's armor flared to life and propelled him towards the purple haired preteen, just as the automaton fired at Neptune, Heero blocked the attack with his shield then rammed into it, only for the Automatic Turret to be kicked into the air by IF, and finally shot in mid-air by Compa who acted on the spur of the moment.

After what remained of the third 'monster' fell to the ground, Heero turned his attention to the second machine monster… the very same machine that Neptune was still whacking with her wooden sword, "We can do this all day buddy!"

The two gun barrels that were located between Heero's head and shoulders began to light up as bullets flew out from them and peppered the last Automatic Turret. A few of the bullets left dents on the machines metal frame, a few veered off, and the rest ate through it and damaged the turrets internal workings.

IF walked over and kicked the small machine to make sure it was no longer functioning and let out an exhausted sigh, "They never tell us everything before we enter the dungeons…"

Heero had his gaze fixed on the brunette who already looked tired from the fight, "You're surprised? It is quite common for the employer to leave out information, intentional or not. More importantly, I should give Neptune back the sword I had procured for her, otherwise she will become a liability."

IF cocked an eyebrow at Heero, "You mean she wasn't a liability already?"

Heero walked over to Neptune, who was looking at her wooden sword with disappointment, "This thing just isn't doin' it for me anymore!"

The Perfect Soldier pulled a katana out from behind his shield and held it out to the preteen, "This will no doubt prove to be a more effective weapon than what you are currently using."

Neptune had the look of a child who had just been given a new toy; the katana had a slim, sharp blade and the handle was entirely black, "Aww, you are so nice Heero! I will accept this as a gesture of your love for me."

Heero narrowed his eyes at the girl, pointless as it was, "It is not a 'gesture of love', I am merely increasing our chances of success."

"Sure you are, lover."

No matter how many times Neptune called him that, Heero could not get used to being referred to as 'lover'. IF and Compa had gone to check the what lay beyond the two paths, then came back just as quickly they took off, "There are a few room down this way. How does it look over there?"

"It's the same over here, but I saw a big monkey throwing barrels in one of the rooms." Heero's optical sensors went from one corridor to the other, and aside from the differing positions of objects and the 'barrel throwing monkey', both paths were generally the same, "As both paths are the same, we may use either one and still accomplish the mission."

"We should totally split up so we can get the all the monsters!" Neptune threw her arms around Heero's metal arm, "I call dibs on Heero!"

When Neptune had her arms around him, Heero knew what was to come next. Compa immediately had both of her arms around Heero's other arm with a familiar pouty face, "Why should you be the one who pairs up with Heero, Nep-Nep? I want Heero to pair up with me!"

Neptune's cheeks puffed up once Compa protested her idea, "But I already called dibs! Besides, Heero's my lover!"

IF, who was standing off to the side, was looking quite irked as she listened to Neptune and Compa debate as to who Heero would pair with, "Alright, if it's gonna cause this much of a problem for you two, then Heero will pair off with me. (Besides, there's no way in hell I would allow either of you to run off with Heero alone.)"

Neptune and Compa looked at IF, then at one another, and then back at IF, "No!" The brunette's eye twitched, "I wasn't asking."

Heero was getting more than a little tired of the bickering and arguing going on between the three girls, "Instead of splitting up, we will search the rooms as a group as we look for the target. That way you three will stop fighting about who I will go with."

The three girls exchanged glances before settling on the idea, "Well, fine... but only cause Heero thought of the idea."

The party decided to follow the right path, so as to avoid the prime ape that felt it necessary to throw objects around in a dungeon. As they were about to pass the first room on the right, a pair of green vipers came slithering out from the entranceto said room. A big grin made its way onto Neptune's face as she pulled out her new sword, "Heh, no sweat."

Neptune had already began to run at the first 'Hell Viper'. Just as she was about to attack the reptile-like monster, the preteen slipped on a steel pipe and fell on her stomach with a thud. When Neptune looked up she saw that her sword had struck the viper in its head, which left Heero, Compa and IF beside themselves with how the preteen was able to defeat the monster even when she blundered, "…That wasn't how I meant to get him, but hey, I got him!"

The second Hell Viper was poised to strike Neptune, only to be kicked away by IF, "Quick gawking at how you took out that monster and focus on the monster that is still alive!"

IF pulled her Katars out from her jacket sleeves and quickly disposed of the viper with four quick slashes. Once they were sure that the two monsters were no longer alive, Neptune, Heero, Compa and IF continued down the corridor.

Heero had pulled his beam saber from its compartment on his shield, in case there were any monsters hiding at the entrance of the second room. The party drew closer and Heero tightened his grip on the thermal cutting weapon, of course, Heero's preparation was for nothing as there was not a single monster in the room, only pipes, boxes, and rusty fences.

Neptune ran ahead and disappeared behind the corner at the end of the corridor, when the rest of the party caught up with her she was peeking behind another corner at a corridor that connect the other two together like the corridor the party had entered the dungeon from, and Neptune's excitement was as plain as day, "That has to be the boss!"

Heero looked beyond the corner and saw a large red bird-like creature in the center of the corridor that seemed to lead to the back of the factory. It was flapping its wings to keep itself in the air and kept its gaze fixed forward, "That must be our target."

With so much distance between themselves and the 'Roc' a sneak attack or ambush was out of the question. A full frontal attack or a distraction followed by an attack from the girls seemed to be the only two options available, "I will go in first, once the target's attention is on me, you three will have an opening to strike in its blind side."

IF looked from the large bird monster to Heero, "Are you sure you can pull it off? I don't doubt your abilities, but you've been getting very weak lately and any damage you take from that thing could be fatal."

"That is why I am trusting you three to attack the target while I distract it." Heero stepped out into plain sight of the Roc. The monster let out a loud 'squawk' before flying straight at Heero with its talons extended. Heero immediately used his thrusters to evade the attack, while keeping the monster's attention fixed on him.

Once she was sure the monster was only aware of Heero, IF nodded her head, "Alright, come on!" Neptune, Compa and IF charged at the large monster that was after Heero, and it wasn't until it had been struck in the back by a series of attacks that it was aware of their presence.

While the attacks had knocked it down, the Roc flapped its wings as quickly as it could to hover in the air. It was now four against one, and having been blindsided by the three girls the boss monster had definitely been weakened, though not enough that it couldn't fight back, "I'll just transform, beat up the boss, and then we can celebrate with lots of yummy cake!"

Neptune's HDD disk appeared, surrounded by binary code as was normal for both Heero and herself, and transformed into the more powerful, serious purple haired swordstress. Neptune pointed her sword at the monster before her, "Try to make this interesting while it lasts."

The Roc charged at Neptune, intending to use its beak as a means to injure the beautiful sword wielding woman, only to have her both stop the attack and launch the large bird into the wall. The Roc was slightly dazed as it got back up, it shook its head in an attempt to regain its senses.

By the time it was no longer disoriented however, Neptune was already above the Roc with her large katana positioned to deliver a painful blow to its head. Neptune slammed her sword into the back of the monster's head and straight into the ground. The swordstress twirled her sword as she turned her back to the monster, "…That was dull and boring. And I thought it would actually put up a fight."

Unfortunately, Neptune did not see the Roc getting back up, nor the killing intent it had in its eyes as it looked at her. The large bird charged at Neptune once more, only now Neptune did not see the attack coming, "Move!"

Neptune was caught by surprised when Heero had suddenly shoved her out of the way, the Roc's beak dug into Heero's armor and tore some of it out of place and chipping some of it off. Neptune only caught a glimpse, but the swordstress saw the large bird tear off a piece of Heero's armor before hovering in the air once more, and Heero landed on his back with a dull 'thud'.

Neptune grit her teeth as she looked from Heero to the monster that she thought she had just defeated, "You…!" Compa fired a bullet at the Roc's beak, knocking it off balance, "That was mean! You should never attack someone when they're not looking!"

IF had jumped onto the monsters back and drove her Katars through its hide, "Paybacks a bitch, isn't it?!" After IF had dismounted the Roc, Neptune drove her sword into its chest cavity and pulled it out after dragging it along the left side of the monsters body, "I dare you to get back up."

This time, the monster stayed down… though anyone or anything in their right mind probably wouldn't have got back up in the first place. Neptune knelt down next Heero and inspected the damaged armor, then looked at the green eyes on his metal face plate which were dull, as if his eyes were closed.

Compa and IF quickly made their way over to Heero, pieces of his armor were still scattered around after the monster's attack, "Is Heero going to be alright?"

Neptune gently laid Heero's head on her lap, "I don't know… he's suffered a very serious injury." The green see-through eyes on the metal mask flickered back to life, and Heero began to stand back up, though not without some difficulty, "…I was careless."

"Don't beat yourself up, Heero. I should have made sure the monster was defeated."

Heero gathered up the pieces of armor that had been ripped off his body, dumped them into a pile and fired his Buster Rifle at it, "What did you do that for? We may have been able to weld the pieces back on."

"The process would take too long, more importantly if we had left them here, Avenir would have found the pieces, studied them, and would begin to create newer weapons shortly after."

With the Roc defeated, the party made their way back towards the entrance of the dungeon.

Xxx

When the party returned outside, an Avenir employee was waiting for them at the factory gate, "Greetings. Excellent work. I've come to collect the defeated monsters."

Neptune eyed the Avenir employee, "Work is work, but I'm not thrilled to help our evil nemesis, Avenir."

"…Nemesis? Um, this is…?" IF stepped in before Neptune anything else, "Don't worry about her. Anyway, we gave it our all and covered most everything in this area."

"Thank you very much. You've done exceedingly well. Here is your reward. Please take it." The employee handed one thousand credits to IF, meanwhile Neptune was eyeing the Avenir employee suspiciously, "What do you plan to do with these monsters? Depending on your answer…"

"P-Please, there's no need to get so tense. I know it sounds odd. This creature's nervous tissue acts as a conductor in the hardware Avenir is developing. The monster will die as soon as the nervous tissue is removed, so that's why we didn't specify dead or alive."

IF balled her hand into a loose fist and placed it under her chin, "Hmm. Basically, the monster has whatever you need to make some kind of machine."

"I'm relieved you understand. We'll definitely call on you if something normal humans cannot handle arises."

Neptune crossed her arms over her chest, "…That's hardly flattering."

As the party turned to leave, the Avenir employee stopped them, "Wait. There is one more thing…" The group turned back around to face the employee, who had his gaze fixed on Heero, "Avenir's representative, Singe, is very interested in your robot companion. We are willing to buy it from you at a very attractive price."

Heero glared at the employee as he pulled a checkbook out of his pocket, tore off one of the slips of paper, and handed it to Neptune. The check was made out for fifty-million credits, "As I said, we are willing to buy it at a VERY attractive price."

Heero half expected Neptune to be all over the large sum of money, however her facial expression suggested otherwise. Neptune was glaring at the flimsy piece of paper, as if it would burn under her gaze. The swordstress tore the piece of paper into smaller pieces before letting them blow away in the wind.

Neptune turned her cold glare on the Avenir employee, who shuddered under her powerful gaze, "Heero is not some object to be bought or sold. He's not for sale… Don't ask me again."

The employee put his hands up in a defensive manner, "I'm sorry, I'm just doing what the representative told me to do."

Once again, the party turned around and made their way back towards the capital of Lastation. Heero noticed that the three girls in front of him were fuming, Compa's cheeks were puffed up, "They're so rude. How can they treat Heero like a thing?!"

IF looked very peeved, "It's his transformation, it makes him look like a robot… But he still looks human enough, can't they refer to him as something other than an object?!"

Neptune was still glaring, though her glare was not fixed on anything in particular, "…They think I'm going to sell my lover just like that? Who does they think they are?"

This was one of the moments that made Heero glad that these girls were his allies. The teen suddenly began to have difficulty moving his legs for some reason, then he fell to one knee and because he weighed so much in his Gundam transformation Neptune, Compa, and IF were able to hear him fall.

When they turned around Heero was not moving, he was on one knee and looking down at the ground, "Are you okay, Heero?" The sound of a warning siren began to emanate from Heero, followed by a monotone female voice, "[WARNING, PRIMARY GENERATOR FAILING, SWITCHING TO SECONDARY GENERATORY. TIME UNTIL SYSTEM SHUTDOWN: FIFTEEN MINUTES.]"

The sound of the siren died down and Heero began to pick himself back up, then he reverted to his regular human self, "Wh-What's going on? What was that all about?"

Heero was glaring as he looked at the ground, "…That last attack must have severed the connection to the main drive unit." Heero walked past Neptune, Compa and IF while talking to himself, most likely about something relating to his mission, "You think Heero will be all right? He's been sick for a while now…"

Neptune could only watch as Heero walked away, "I've noticed a number of things that have been wrong with Heero while he has been sick. Above all else, he hasn't been healing like he normally has been… his injuries are accumulating."

IF cocked an eyebrow, "Now that you mention it, he normally does heal himself after he returns to normal… But what I'VE noticed is that his armor is weaker, normally he would be able to withstand an attack without taking any real damage."

The three girls contemplated what they could do to help Heero as they continued on the walk back to the capital city.

Xxx

In one of the many factory type dungeons around Lastation, the mysterious white haired girl that had attacked Neptune and company was sitting on a smooth rock near the entrance of the dungeon and appeared to be in deep thought, "Can't find her… Things won't always go as planned, I guess. I wonder where Neptune will go? Those guild people said something about a Key Fragment…"

The mysterious swordstress stood up and started pacing, "A piece of… a key? I wonder if it belonged to Neptune. Is that what they're looking for…?"

The girl fell silent for a moment… a long moment, then she began shake her head, "…No, no! Stupid Black Heart, don't go off on pointless tangents! How will I deal with Neptune? Shall I disguise myself and set up a food shack in front of the Basilicom? She's always loved warm food…"

Once again, the mystery girl fell silent for a long moment ago, and shook her head once more, "…Stop thinking about the food shack! It's not like you want to cook for her or anything! What I really need to focus on is getting that Heero guy away from Neptune."

The white haired girl looked up to see the individuals she had been talking about along with Compa and IF, "Tch, Neptune…!" The aforementioned preteen was right in front of the mystery girl, "Hey, you! In the plug suit dealie!"

The white haired girl jumped back to put some distance between herself and Neptune, "Wh-What are you…? Planning to ambush me, eh?! Good for you. I'll gladly accept your challenge!"

IF raised a questioning eyebrow at the girl, "Why would we ambush you? Did we take the same job again? Or are you… perhaps… stalking cute little Neptune?"

"Wha-no! Well, yes! B-B-But, Neptune! I'm here to settle the score with you!" Compa had her hands on Neptune's shoulders, "You can't have our Nep-Nep! If you want her, you'll have to step over my dead body."

Heero looked at Compa for a brief moment, "(While I will admire her determination, I believe that the correct way to phrase that was, 'you can have her over my dead body.'"

The mystery girl balled her hands into tight fists, "Oh, okay. I owe you a plate of revenge anyway. I'll take all three of you at the same time! (If he's really stronger than Neptune, I'll have to take on Heero by himself.)"

As the white haired swordstress had this thought in her mind, she was looking straight at Heero. Neptune followed her gaze to the teen behind her and came to her own conclusion of what the mystery girl meant by 'settle the score with you', "*Gasp* Compa! Iffy! I know why she's really here! She came to steal Heero again!"

As expected from the accusation, the white haired girl's eyes widened, "N-No I'm not! I'm not here for him at all!"

Compa covered her mouth and gasped, while IF narrowed her eyes at the mystery girl, "Is that a fact? It would be one thing if you were just after Neptune, but Heero? That's crossing the line."

The mystery girl's cheeks slowly turned pink, "Why do keep thinking I want to steal him anyway?!"

Neptune had her hands on her hips as her cheeks began to puff up, "I know you're totally jealous of me 'cause Heero is my lover and not yours. I betcha you have all kinds of dreams about doin' the thing with Heero. You're probably havin' one right now!"

Neptune glomped Heero while keeping her attention on the white haired girl, "Heero's mine! All mine! Do ya get me, man-stealer?!"

The white haired swordstress stomped her foot as her cheeks began to turn red, "Why would I have dreams about a guy I know nothing about?!"

"'Why' you ask? What girl in her right mind wouldn't have dreams about doin' the thing with Heero? He's super-hot, uber strong and smart, and he acts all cool and serious, but really he's super nice."

Heero was unsure of what to make of the situation, so he retained his silence, meanwhile Compa violently shook her head, "No, no, no, no, no! You can't have Heero!"

The nurse-in-training ran over to Heero and threw her around his left arm, "If you want Heero, you have to beat us! And we won't lose easily, especially when Heero is at stake!"

While IF wanted to grab ahold of Heero's other arm and stake her claim on the teen, she restrained herself, "When we first ran into you I thought you were just after Neptune, and I was fine with that. Now I see that you're just some harpy looking to steal the only guy in our party. (…And probably the best looking guy in all of Gamindustri.)"

The mysterious swordstress brandished her sword as her face slowly became as red as cherry, "I keep telling you, I'm not here for him! I haven't been after him, and I never will be!"

Heero stood in silent contemplation, "(…Where do they get the idea that this girl is after me? From how I see it, it is obvious that she is after Neptune.)"

Neptune, Compa and IF stood in front of Heero with determined looks on their faces, "Don't you worry, Heero. We'll totally beat her up so she won't come after you, then we can go back and celebrate with some yummy food!"

IF dashed at the swordstress, her razor sharp Katars at the ready, while Compa fired a number of bullets from her syringe. The white haired girl blocked or dodged all of the bullets, before moving to deal with IF, "(Neptune has an annoying habit of getting behind me when I'm not looking. I have to keep my eyes on her so she can't get me.)"

While the mystery girl kept her attention on Neptune, she had to juggle the task of blocking and dodging both Compa and IF's attacks… which was slowly beginning to take its toll on her, "(Tch! I can't keep fighting like this. I have to take out Neptune, and quick!)"

The swordstress launched an attack at IF. The brunette narrowly escaped being impaled by the large sword, only receiving a cut across her cheek, "You must want Heero pretty bad if you're finally going on the offense… But don't think I'll lose to you!"

IF pushed the broadsword away with a sudden burst of strength, then attempted to kick the swordstress, but her attack was blocked by the large sword she had just forced away. However, the white haired girl was now too preoccupied to see that Neptune had gotten behind her, "Give up!"

The purple haired preteen kicked the girl in her back side… though Neptune began to regret making the decision to attack her then, as she had been kicked towards Heero, who was leaning on one of the factory walls… still in silent contemplation.

Neptune, Compa and IF froze in place. The girl who they had been fighting was right in front of Heero, her left leg was locked with Heero's right, her chest was pushed up against his with one of her breasts in Heero's left hand, and her hands were on his shoulders.

Neptune's mouth was wide open, Compa looked as though she was about to cry, and IF looked absolutely livid. They thought that the mystery girl was kissing Heero… But that was because they could only see her back.

Heero's eyes were wide open in surprise, not only because he had been so deep in thought while the girls had been fighting, but because of who was in front of him.

The white haired swordstress was both surprised and embarrassed, her face was mere millimeters away from Heero's… they were so close that one would have to be right next to them to tell that they weren't kissing. Heero was experiencing the strange sensation that he had felt only from Neptune, Compa and IF until now, and the girl was looking deep into his Prussian blue eyes.

The swordstress could not move. Her cheeks began to burn, she was gasping for breath, she couldn't think straight, and her lips were quivering. Her thought process was so disoriented that she did not seem to notice that Heero had accidently cupped one of her soft mounds.

Suddenly, after what seemed like an eternity, the mystery girl felt a stinging pain in the back of her head, as Neptune was pulling on her hair, "You get away from Heero right now, Destined Lover-stealer! Now! Now! Now! Now! NOW!"

The white haired girl regained her senses and tried to swat Neptune away, "I-I-I'm not trying to steal anyone!"

"Are too! We just saw you kissin' Heero! That was so not cool!" Compa was holding her syringe in one hand, which was hard to believe when normally she needed both arms to wield it, and for the first time… she actually looked angry, "…She stole Heero's first kiss from us… from me…"

The pink haired nurse threw the syringe at the girl who had just been labeled as a 'Destined Lover-stealer', who narrowly dodged it from how fast it was going. When the white haired girl returned her attention to Compa, the nurse-in-training was right in front of her with her right arm reared back and a tear fell from her eye, "Eat my broken heart, you man-stealer!"

Compa punched the swordstress with frightening strength, as she was sent right through one of the walls and landed on her stomach. As she got back up she experienced a feeling of dread, she saw a pair of blue shoes in front of her and slowly looked up to see IF and the murderous intent in her eyes, "You bitch…"

IF lifted her right leg into the air then swiftly brought it down, breaking apart the metal floor and launching the swordstress into the air before kicking her through the wall she just came through, leaving another hole.

The white haired girl tumbled for a moment before landing on her back, covered in bruises. And of course, Neptune was standing above her with sword in hand and gritting her teeth, "I was supposed to get Heero's first kiss!"

Neptune brought her katana down with such force that she left a crater where she had struck and the swordstress landed flat on her stomach in front of the factory entrance.

Heero was quite surprised at how strong Neptune, Compa and IF were. How they had suddenly become this strong, he did not know, but they certainly knew how to be destructive and scary when they wanted to be.

The mystery girl slowly picked herself up, clutching her arm, "Again…? I have no choice but to admit I can't quite take all of you down at once. However, there's still one way! This landmass will eventually assault Neptune. Don't ever forget that!"

The white haired girl turned to run but not before stealing a glance at Heero, which caused her cheeks to turn a light pink, and then she took off.

Neptune hand her hands on her hips and she puffed out her chest, "It doesn't matter how many times you try! Justice is totally on our side!"

IF rolled her eyes at the preteen, "Yeah, three against one. Such balanced justice. Shouldn't you have chased after her?"

"Why? I don't care. Not like she's a lean, mean, grilling machine. She won't satisfy my hunger." The brunette shook her head, "…No, I mean, she despises you. She probably knows something about you prior to you losing your memories."

Neptune immediately turned in the direction that the mystery girl had gone, "Oooh, snappy-snap! I could ask her everything if I catch her. I didn't even think about it… Wait up! Heero, you gotta help me catch her!"

Neptune took off after the girl with Heero following behind, leaving Compa and IF be themselves, "Geez. She's got such a one-track mind. Shall we? I'm sure she'll be fine since she has Heero with her."

Xxx

Farther ahead in the cave Neptune and Heero were in, a strikingly beautiful raven haired girl appeared to be trying to find the entrance to the cave while muttering to herself, "Nothing's going my way. I lost to Neptune and my power's run out on top of that."

Suddenly, the girl felt someone grab her from behind and all she could see of the person was a pair of arms around her waist, "Hmm… Ah-ha! Gotcha! All right, prepare t-huh? Oh, wrong person."

The raven haired girl looked very surprised as she twisted her neck to look at her assailant, "Neptune?! Don't scare me like that! Have you come after me? Fine, let's go, fair and square!"

Neptune released her hold on the girl, "Whoa, hold your ponies. Have we… met? Sorry, who are you and where are you from?" The preteen tilted her head in a confused manner, "Hmm, but we know each other, right? Sorry, I gotta bad memory lately, so… I guess that explains why I'd become an amnesiac so easily! Y'know, it kinda sucks."

The raven haired girl turned to face Neptune while Heero stayed behind said preteen, "Neptune, you lost your memory? How di-…?" The mystery teen stopped herself and closed her eyes, "…Oh, I see. That's right."

"Yeah, it happened a while ago. All I know about little ol' me is my name and I can transform. Iffy and Compa have been…" Neptune stopped her train of thought as she remembered why it was she and Heero had been running through the cave in the first place, "Oops, I totally forgot! Have you seen a girl your age in a skanky one-piece with lots of weapons on her body?"

The teenaged girl fidgeted slightly, "I don't know where to begin. I… saw someone like that fly into the sky… and into the horizon…"

Neptune turned to Heero, "Whatcha think Heero, will we be able to find her? We can't catch her on foot." The Perfect Soldier crossed his arms as he took in this information, "If she is capable of flight, she will have covered too much ground for us to track her by the time we leave this area."

Neptune returned her attention to the raven haired teen before her, "Thanks for the spiffy info. So, you're…" The bubbly preteen looked at the girl and saw a red liquid seeping out of a few cuts on her skin, "Whoa! Are you bleeding?!"

The raven haired girl looked down at herself to see the cuts and the blood that was escaping from them, "Huh? Oh, yes. I… um… Monsters! I was assaulted by three little harpies!"

"Um, maybe you should get those treated? Let us take you back to town, okay?" Neptune turned to Heero, "Heero! I need you to carry her back to town so Compa can take care of her."

The teen nodded in response, "Roger." Heero walked over to the girl, who was slightly surprised at Neptune's decision to take her back, "Wh-What? Wait… Um, I… O-Oh…!"

Heero swept the beautiful teen girl off her feet and carried her in his arms. Neptune pointed in the direction that she and Heero had come from, "All right, back to town! March people!"

As they walked back to the entrance to the cave the raven haired girl stole a few glances at Heero from time to time, finding it very difficult to look at him for more than a few seconds.

Xxx

After they had returned to the place of residence they had been staying, Compa had begun to treat the mystery girl's injuries. Compa had finished disinfecting and bandaging the wounds in a few short minutes, "…The injuries aren't severe. I'm sure you'll be all healed up in a few days with no scars at all."

The beautiful teenaged girl examined the bandages before looking back at the pink haired nurse, "Thank you. You're Neptune's friend, um… Compa, right?"

A small smile made its way onto Compa's face, "Yes! I found Nep-Nep on the ground back in Planeptune. We've been as close as scissors ever since then!"

Neptune was sitting on the bed across from the raven haired girl, "So where'd you come from? Iffy's not here, but that's okay. We can take you back to wherever you're from."

The girl scratched her cheek, trying to think of something, "Um, I came from really, really far away. I don't… r-remember the details."

"What? Then… You're…!" Neptune's eyes began to light up, "*Gasp* My amnesiac best buddy?!"

The raven haired teen looked confused for a brief moment, "Huh? Oh, oh yes! That's right, amnesia. Oh boy, I can't remember a thing! It must've happened when I was attacked."

Compa tilted her head, "When you were attacked? How could you get amnesia from being attacked?"

"Psychological trauma." The three girls in the room turned to Heero, who was sitting at a desk working on his laptop, "The shock from being attacked by monsters must been strong enough to wipeout her memories."

Heero stood up from the desk he was seated at and walked over to the raven haired girl, "Aside from where you are from, do you not remember anything else before you were attacked?"

The teenaged girl could not look at Heero, "N-No… I don't. (Why am I having so much trouble looking at one guy?)" Heero narrowed his eyes as she told him that she could not remember anything else, "…She is a Retrograde amnesiac."

Neptune began to scratch the top of her head, "Uh, can you use smaller words or explain it a little, Heero? It's kinda hard to understand when you use those big words."

Heero closed his eyes as he thought of a way to explain what he was talking about so the girls could understand, "Basically, she cannot retrieve any information that was acquired before a particular date, specifically the day she had been attacked… today."

Compa looked back at the raven haired girl, "Then how can we get you back home? Uh-oh…" The teenaged amnesiac looked away, "R-Right…"

Neptune pumped her arms as she came up with an idea, "Just stick around us until you remember! You can totally help us save Histy!" Compa shook her head at the preteen, "No, this isn't going to be an easy journey. We shouldn't involve outsiders!"

The door to the room swung open and IF entered the room, "What's all the ruckus? I could hear you from outside. Nice to know you're all chummy, I guess. Did you decide what to do? Let's take her back while it's light outside. Her parents must be worried sick."

Compa turned to the brunette standing at the door, "Actually, we've decided she will stay. She doesn't remember anything. We can't let her fight though, since she's a civilian."

The aforementioned girl gave a small bow, "I apologize for the trouble. Please don't push yourselves for my sake." IF looked from the teenaged amnesiac to Neptune, "No choice, huh? Neptune, you found her, so you better take responsibility for her."

Neptune had her hands on her hips as she smiled at IF, "Alrighty! I'll feed her, potty train her, take her for walks, and get her spayed until she remembers something!"

Heero looked at Neptune for a moment, "…She is not a dog, Neptune." IF gave the preteen a strange look herself before passing it off, "…What? Oh well. Ladies, we've got another job request. Get prepped in forty seconds!"

Compa started scrambling around, "F-Forty seconds…? That's way too specific and way too quick for a girl to get herself ready to go out!"

IF walked over to the beautiful teen girl, "We're going out for a bit, so keep the door locked. Eat whatever you find in the bowl Neptune got you. Here's some cash. If you remember where you came from while we're out, don't worry about saying goodbye. Just go. Later."

As the group of four left, the raven haired girl could hear IF asking Heero whether he was really okay to take on a job request before the door closed. The teen was silent for a brief moment, "…So chatty. It's something… we didn't have in Celestia…"

Xxx

When the party returned to their room, the amnesiac girl was still there. Neptune had formed a bond with her, unfortunately the raven haired girl did not reciprocate the feeling. IF and Compa went out to 'do some shopping' in the guise of getting away to give the girls time to talk freely, and Heero went off on his own.

Neptune was sitting on the bed next to her 'amnesiac best buddy', "It's so quiet when Compa and Iffy are out shopping. And Heero didn't tell us where he was going. So, didja remember anything yet, amnesia buddy?"

The girl shook her head, "No, unfortunately not. Soon, I hope. Can I ask why you four are on this journey?" Neptune started to get excited as she told the amnesiac girl why the party was traveling together, "We're saving the world! A beautiful princess named Histy is locked away in a huge castle prison somewhere! Only Heero and I can hear her voice. Awesome, huh? She's waiting for us to save her as we speak. How can I ignore her?"

The raven haired girl seemed somewhat impressed with Neptune, "You're quite committed. But, a goddess should care for more than one thing at a time."

"A goddess, right. People who look the most bored are usually the ones who are working the hardest!" The teenager nodded her head, "But our hard work doesn't always pay off… You must be future-proof or your efforts will go to waste…!"

Neptune tilted her head, "Y'think? All experience points get split equally across the party's level. Isn't that kinda future-proofing?"

"What? No! Ugh, sorry. I shouldn't expect you to understand when you don't remember anything from your past. But, that's exactly why I can speak with you like this. People say I only do everything… I don't think that's true."

The purple haired preteen assumed her thinking position, "Oh, I can't do everything either! I've tried to lick the chocolate off a candy bar, but I still end up chomping on it."

The girl next to Neptune seemed slightly amused by the preteen, "Hahaha, what's that about? I meant… like… well, I get a little too focused sometimes. A real one-track mind."

Neptune started scratching the back of her head, "…I dunno about that. Are you… um… starting to remember stuff?" The beautiful teen suddenly realized what she had been saying, "Oh, no! Nope, not a thing. I'm just rambling. I guess. I don't get to talk to other girls like this very often. Neptune, can I ask you one last weird question?"

"Last one? Okay, but it better not be perverted. I am a pure maiden."

"It won't. I promise. Do you… ever wanna become a… goddess? You wanna save the people, right? You can do it if you were a goddess. Don't you want that power?"

Neptune had a blank look on her face, "Hmm, nopers! I'd have to leave Compa and Iffy and live in Celestia and read and govern and… blah! No way!"

The preteen suddenly had a sad look on her face, "And worst of all, I'd have to leave Heero!" The raven haired girl tilted her head, "Is he important to you?"

"Oh, more than anything! Heero is worth more to me than even the best tasting sweets. He's my Destined Lover."

The teenager stared at Neptune for a moment, "Destined Lover? What do you mean? Is there something going on between the two of you?"

"Well, when I fell to the ground, Heero was right where I fell. He saved me from dying the worst death imaginable! A death with no chance of getting a do-over! Histy asked Heero to help me, and he said his mission was to protect me, and that he'd sacrifice himself for me! That's how I know we're Destined Lovers, and nobody can make me leave Heero, nope, not happenin'."

The raven haired teen looked away from Neptune, "While we're on the topic… could you… tell me a little about Heero?"

When the girl turned back around, Neptune's cheeks were puffed up, "Are tryin' to become another one of my rivals for Heero's love?"

The amnesiac girl put her hands up defensively, her cheeks slowly turning pink, "N-No! I-I was just curious… he seems different from other people."

Neptune looked away and assumed her thinking position, "Heero is really strong and smart. He's also super observant, and he acts all stoic and silent, but he's actually really nice! He's always super focused on protecting cute little me. And that's why I love him!"

The crimson eyed teen looked at the floor, her cheeks started to burn, "Do you happen to know… his preferences?" Neptune blinked at the girl a few times, "Whatcha mean? Like food and stuff?"

The girl shook her head, "N-No, I mean… do you know… what kind of girl Heero is interested in?"

Neptune rubbed her temples, then scratched her cheek, and assumed her thinking position once more, "Hmm, well… I think he's interested in me 'cause… Heero thinks about me all the time when he's protecting me and stuff."

The teen let out a sigh, "I'll take that as a no. (…So I have nothing to go on.) I see. I'm glad I heard your honest answer. You would've never said such a thing before… I'll be the one to protect the world. I'll rule everything. I'll end it all."

Neptune was starting to get confused, "Protect? Rule? What're you mumbling about? Iffy's not here to explain those words…"

The crimson eyed girl had a determined look on her face, "Don't worry. Just stay here in this world and concentrate on saving your Histy princess. Okay?" Neptune tilted her head, completely confused at this point.

Xxx

It had been about two hours since Heero, Compa and IF had gone out to give the two amnesiacs time to talk amongst themselves, and they were now asleep.

As she was sleeping, the raven haired amnesiac felt a hand stroking her hair, and it was oddly pleasant. Her eyelids slowly flickered open and turned in the direction of the hand, before she began to fall asleep again.

The raven haired girl's eyes snapped open when she realized that the one who had been stroking her hair was Heero… not only that, but she had fallen asleep on his lap. She immediately sat up and her cheeks were bright red, "Wh-What's going on? When did you get back?"

Unlike the girl, Heero was not embarrassed or surprised, "…Just now. I found you on the edge of your bed and you were about to fall off. I was going to put you back in, however you started grabbing onto me."

The amnesiac girl's cheeks turned a darker shade of red, "I-I'm sorry. I hope it wasn't any trouble for you." The two sat in silence, the only noise in the room was Neptune's snoring.

The raven haired teen was unsure of what to say or do, and was about to speak when Heero stood up, "Perhaps it would be best to go outside. I can imagine you are uncomfortable being confined to this room for an extended period of time."

"Well, yes, but… where would I go?"

"I have no objections should you wish to leave the room, though I will have to keep an eye on you." The raven haired girl looked at Heero quizzically, "What do you mean 'keep an eye on me'?"

Heero walked over to the door, "It would not be wise for you to go into town on your own, so I will accompany." The amnesiac's cheek were a light pink, "Wh-What? N-No, I can go on my own. I-I wouldn't want to be any trouble to you."

"It was Neptune's order." The mystery teen stopped when she heard Heero mention Neptune, "She told me to either stop you, or go with you should you want to leave this room."

"…O-Okay." Heero opened the door as the beautiful teen came towards it, closing it after he had passed through the doorway after her.

Xxx

Heero and the teenaged girl had ventured into the city, looking through random stores and restaurants. The raven haired girl was currently looking through the window of a jewelry store, gazing at a specific accessory, "(I never really get time to just relax and shop like this…)"

Heero had been watching the girl and the object she was focused on. When she moved on to look at another store, Heero entered the jewelry, meanwhile the teenaged girl was farther along the shopping district and ended up in a deserted portion of it.

She looked around to see that there was no one around, which was strange as not a moment ago there were hundreds of people walking along the streets, "Did I really come this far? Heero, do you know where we are-"

When the amnesiac turned around, she found that Heero was not there. She then heard a low rumbling sound, "W-Who's there?!" The crimson eyed girl looked around, but could not find the source of the rumbling.

As she tried to find the source of the noise, the teen noticed that a large shadow had eclipsed her own. The crimson eyed girl turned around to see a large monster towering over her, a hungry look in its eyes.

Suffice it to say, the teen was surprised to see a monster in the city… even if it was in an abandoned section of the city like the one she was in now, "How did a monster get into the city?! Fine, Let's go, right now!"

As the monster prepared itself to attack the girl, it suddenly twitched, and then fell over. Standing on the other side of the fallen monster was Heero with his GN Sword on his arm and his normal emotionless façade.

The Perfect Soldier stepped over the now dead monster and stood in front of the raven haired girl, "…I do not want you leaving my side from now on."

The girl was taken aback by what Heero had just told her, "…W-why not?"

"Is that a rhetorical question? You were about to be eaten by that monster. Until we return to the other, protecting you will be my highest priority."

The crimson eyed teen started to blush as her heart began to beat faster, "Y-You're… going to… protect me?" Heero nodded in response. The amnesiac looked away from Heero, unable to look at him straight in the eye, "Wh-Where were you anyway?"

"…Close your eyes." The girl wasn't sure why Heero wanted her to close her eyes, but did so anyway. As her vision was now obscured the crimson eyed teen could only hear Heero's footsteps, which seemed to draw closer.

The teen felt her hair being shifted slightly, then it fell back into place, "…You may open your eyes now." The girl looked down as her eyes flickered open, slowly widening upon seeing an object dangling from her neck that had not been there before, "T-This is…!"

"I saw you looking at this particular necklace. I thought it might be something you were interested in, so I bought it for you." The necklace that Heero had placed around the girl's neck was a jet black necklace in the shape of a heart. The raven haired girl gingerly touched the necklace with her fingers, "Is there anywhere else you would like to go?"

The amnesiac swallowed hard, she could feel her heart thumping against her chest, "N-No… w-we should head back." The Gundam pilot nodded in response, "If that is what you want… I will not object."

The pair of teenagers began to make their way back to the hotel, the crimson eyed girl occasionally stole a glance at Heero, who noticed her from the start, "…If there is something you wish to ask me you are more than welcome to, however I cannot guarantee that I will give a satisfactory response."

The amnesiac shook her head, "I-It's nothing. Really… (This must be how Neptune feels, since she has Heero to protect her and all…)"

Xxx

The door to the hotel room swung open and both Compa and IF entered the room. The nurse-in-training walked over to the bed that Neptune was lying on, "Wake up! Wakey-wakey, Nep-Nep!"

The purple haired preteen began to stir and her the movements of her eyes was tantalizingly slow, "Hrrmpphhh? …Compaaaaa… Oh, was I asleep?"

IF was standing next to the bed after looking at a piece of paper on the table in the middle of the room, "Yeah, comatose with drool, making a little lake by your face. She left, huh? There was a note saying she regained her memory."

Heero entered the room with a white box in his hands, meanwhile Neptune looked around the room and found that the raven haired girl was gone, "Oh, she did…? She was my first and only amnesiac best buddy…"

Heero in the doorway listening to the conversation, while IF tilted her head, "Something happen? What did you two do all day?"

"We were just talking about stuff. She seemed stressed over something and I was all listening to her and whatever." IF looked back at the note, then at Neptune again, "I know I said it was okay, but it's still kind of cold she actually did leave with just a note saying her good-byes."

Neptune had jumped off the bed and stood in front of IF, "Th-That's not true. We talked a whole bunch and she was really nice! Take that back, you meanieface!"

IF was taken aback by Neptune's sudden outburst before regaining her posture, "Wh-What's your problem? Seriously, what happened? You're acting like a spoiled cry-baby… sort of like Compa."

Compa's concern was evident on her face, "Huh? Let's just leave her alone for now, Iffy. Nep-Nep seems upset." Neptune began to look at the floor, "No, I'm… I'm just sad. I dunno why, but I'm sad."

Heero could not understand why, but he felt… guilty. Heero let out a breath he had been holding in and walked over to Neptune, who looked up once he was standing in front of her, "Oh… hey, Heero."

The Gundam pilot held out the box in his hands to the preteen, who looked at the box quizzically, "I was going to give this to you later, however now seems as good a time as any."

Neptune took the box from Heero, upon opening it her eyes lit up from the contents inside, "Whoa, that is a really good looking chocolate cake! And it's even got strawberries on it!"

"As the leader of the group, your attitude and feelings have an impact on the team. If you are disheartened, the morale of the team will suffer."

Heero retreated to the kitchen, and IF crossed her arms as a small smile curved her lips, "I don't know why, but I think it's cute the way Heero tries to hide behind logic when he does things like this."

Heero returned with a glass of milk in his hands and set it down on the table in front of Neptune. The purple haired girl reached into the box and pulled off one of the strawberries on top of the cake, then held it close to Heero's mouth, "Heero, say 'Ah'!"

The teen looked at Neptune for a moment, "I had bought that cake so YOU could eat it. Do you not want it?"

"It's not that, I do want it! But c'mon, Heero. Please?" The preteen was still holding the strawberry covered in chocolate in front of the soldier's mouth. Heero thought about what he should do, but realized that this may have been part of how Neptune was coping with losing her first 'amnesiac best buddy'.

Heero opened his mouth slightly, and Neptune pushed the chocolate covered fruit into his mouth. Heero chewed the sweet and tangy object before swallowing. Neptune put her cake down, took another strawberry off of the cake, and put it in Heero's hand, "Now you can feed one to me!"

Neptune opened her mouth, waiting for Heero to put the strawberry in. The way she waited made her look like a dog waiting for a treat, Heero put the fruit into the preteen's mouth, and Neptune happily ate it, "Food tastes so much better when you share it with your true love, doesn't it, Heero? Anyway, let's go look for that Key Fragment!"

Heero actually felt somewhat relieved that Neptune had returned to her happy, energetic self. The party made sure to grab their things before departing for another random dungeon to search for the Key Fragment.

Xxx

In one of the cave like dungeon's surrounding Lastation, the white haired swordstress was pacing around a large boulder deep in thought… But this time, it was not Neptune who she was thinking about, "…I wonder what kind of girl Heero likes?"

The mystery girl was silent for a minute before violently shaking her head, "I-I don't need to be thinking about him! I need to focus on how I'm going to beat Neptune."

Xxx

_The swordstress looked around and saw Heero standing in front of her, she felt a draft and looked down, only to see that her body suit was missing. She immediately covered herself with her arms, her face was beet red from embarrassment, "H-Heero… don't look at me… I-I…"_

_The swordstress had her back to the teenager. Suddenly she felt Heero's arms wrap around her and pulled her petite frame closer to his body, the white haired girl shivered from the close contact, "I don't care how you look. You will always look beautiful to me."_

"_H-Heero…" Heero slowly turned the swordstress so that she was facing his direction. He cupped her chin with his hand and directed her face so that she was looking into his eyes. Heero began to close the gap between their faces, while the white haired girl slowly closed her eyes, not even attempting to resist Heero's advance, "Ah…."_

Xxx

Steam was rising out of the white haired swordstress' head, she had just finished having a thrilling daydream about herself and Heero. She regained her senses and lightly slapped the sides of her face, "Wh-What am I thinking?! I-I don't like Heero at all! …N-Not to say that I dislike him… I-I just don't like him in that way."

The mysterious swordstress was snapped out of her reverie of thought when she heard voices drawing closer, one of which she made out to be Heero's, "…This cave is apparently unstable. If at all possible, I would like to limit any damage done to its structural integrity."

Soon Neptune, Heero, Compa and IF came into view. The twin braided swordstress next to Heero looked up at the ceiling of the cave, "That would be best. I don't exactly feel like digging myself out of a cave in."

The white haired swordstress began to dig her nails into the boulder she was hiding behind, a wave of jealousy had washed over her, "Look at her, she just gets to walk right next to Heero without a care in the world… it makes me sick!"

The swordstress came out of hiding and stood before the group… again, "I've found you, Neptune!" Neptune narrowed her eyes at the mystery girl, "…How many times are you going to try and steal Heero from me? Haven't I made it clear that you will never beat me?"

The swordstress clenched her fists, "Shut up! You've been lucky, that's all. I'm going to beat you this time!"

Heero felt something drop onto his head, looked up, and saw cracks starting to spread across the ceiling. The Gundam pilot's eyes widened as he knew what was about to happen, "Move!"

Neptune was caught off guard by Heero's sudden outburst and large rocks began to fall from the ceiling, Heero pushed Neptune away, though in the process ended up colliding with the mystery girl. The purple haired swordstress watched as the column of rocks crashed to the ground, separating Heero from the rest of the party.

Neptune picked herself up off the ground and rushed over to the fallen boulders, "Heero!" IF clenched her fists, a nervous look on her face, "I don't think Heero got trapped under the rocks, but now he's stuck on the other side… and he's with HER!"

Neptune began to imagine what the mystery girl would do to her Destined Lover before facing Compa and IF, "…We will have to take the long way around. Let's hurry."

Both Compa and IF nodded in agreement, then the trio of girls began to ran back the way they came so that they could get to where Heero was or where he was going.

Xxx

On the other side of the cave-in, Heero was lying down on something soft, too soft to be the ground. As he opened his eyes Heero saw skin in his peripheral vision, as he began to move back he realized that he had landed on someone's chest… and that 'someone' was the girl who had just came out to fight Neptune.

The white haired swordstress was conscious too, and she was embarrassed that Heero had landed on her. She pushed the soldier away and covered her chest, "I-I didn't need you to save me! And who do you think you are, touching my breasts like that?!"

Heero glared at the swordstress, "I only did what I did to save Neptune. Rest assured, I had no intention of saving you." As Heero walked in the only direction that was available at the time, the white haired girl looked sad, hearing Heero say that he did not want to save her had hurt.

She stood up and began to walk in the same direction as Heero, suddenly the Perfect Soldier fell to his knees and was coughing up blood. The swordstress was immediately next to him, "He-… Uh, I mean, are you all right?!"

Heero found it difficult to stand, "I have been suffering from an illness as of late… my condition has not improved… it only seems to deteriorate."

The white haired girl grabbed one of Heero's arms and wrapped around her shoulder and had one hand on his hip, "…Why are you helping me?"

The swordstress averted her eyes from Heero, "D-Don't get the wrong idea. I'd have a guilty conscience if I left you here." Heero and the white haired girl who was having to support him began to make their way through the cave to find an exit.

Xxx

Fifteen minutes had passed and the duo had made some progress, though Heero was starting to get tired as his condition grew worst. The white haired girl set Heero down on a rock with a smooth top, it was also long enough to act as bed.

Heero was sitting on the edge of the rock, while the white haired girl was sitting behind him, looking away from the teen, "So… what do we do now?"

Heero gave no response, prompting the girl to look at him, "Hey! Are you listening t-" Heero fell back and his head landed in the swordstress' lap. The white haired girl's cheeks began to burn, "Wh-Wh-What are you doing?! You can't just-"

The swordstress stopped when she realized that Heero was unconscious. She looked away from the teen, her cheeks still a bright red color, "Well… fine… I guess you did let me sleep in your lap... B-But just this once! Don't think I'll let you do this all the time!"

As Heero slept, the white haired girl focused her attention on his face. He actually looked peaceful… well, as peaceful as he could be given his current condition. The girl gently brushed a few strands of Heero's errant bangs out of his face, then slowly leaned down towards him.

The white haired girl began to close her eyes as she drew closer to Heero's lips, she gasped when she felt Heero's breathe against her skin, shuddered for a moment, and then moved even closer. The swordstress' lips began to quiver when she was a hair's width away from kissing the unconscious Heero.

Just as she was about to finish closing the distance, the white haired girl's eyes snapped open and she swiftly pulled back, her cheeks were a deep crimson as she covering her mouth with her hand, "I-I see what kind of game you're trying to play. B-But it won't work on me!"

Heero began to stir, then he sat up and looked at the girl, "…How long was I unconscious?" The swordstress looked away from Heero, "A-About a minute or two."

The Perfect Soldier stood up, "We had better get moving. We cannot afford to waste time." Heero and the white haired girl continued down the rocky cave until they reached a split in the path. And as fate would have it, Heero saw cracks forming on the ceiling again, indicating that another cave-in was imminent.

Heero grabbed the white haired swordstress and shoved her down the path on the right before the falling rocks could hit her. When the white haired girl got up off the ground Heero was not with her, which meant that he had either been flattened or that he was trapped on the other side, the girl bit on her lower lip as she thought that the former was what happened, "Heero…"

With no other way to go, the white haired girl passed through the narrow opening at the other end of the path which ironically lead to two more paths. One had light pouring out of it, obviously the exit, the other possibly connected to the path that Heero had to take.

The swordstress was silent for a moment before shaking her head, "I-I don't need him! I don't care about him one bit!" As the girl tried to head for the exit, her body began to move down the other path, "…But… I can't just leave him…"

Xxx

Heero had entered a large room in the dungeon, his movements were slow as his condition worsened. Half way into the room, Heero fell to his knees and covered his mouth with one of his hands. His efforts were futile and the teen ended up vomiting blood onto the ground before wrapping his arms around himself, "…Wh… What's wrong… with me now…?!"

Heero felt like he was being roasted alive, as if someone had dumped a drum of gasoline all over him and then struck a match on him. As Heero was writhing in pain, a large group of monsters entered the room from the other side, "Damn… I am no longer in any condition to fight…"

The group consisted of ogre-like monsters called 'Jyaki', a few Vampire Bats, and a Chimera. As soon as they caught sight of Heero, the monsters thought they had found a quick human snack and encircled the Gundam pilot.

Neptune, Compa and IF entered the room from another one of the openings to find Heero completely surround, "Oh, no! Heero's going to be eaten!"

Neptune clenched her fist as she bit on her lip, "Don't say that Compa. Heero looks like he's in pain, we have to help him!"

The white haired swordstress entered through the fourth and final opening in the room, and saw exactly what Neptune, Compa and IF saw, "…What are you doing, Heero?! You have to get up!"

The Jyaki in front of Heero raised the large club in its hand, intend on crushing the teen. As Heero's pain reached its peak, a blank HDD disk began to float out in front of him. The teen let out a pained cry, and the room was bathed in a bright light.

(For added effect, play Crossbone Gundam theme: Skullheart) When the light subsided, an armored figure was kneeling where Heero had been. The figures arms and legs were white, while its torso was black and had a relief of a skull and crossbones on the front. There were thrusters mounted on the back of the figure and the way they were attached and their design made them look like a pair of crossbones, the shoulders looked bulky and there were strange coat-like objects attached to the shoulder.

The figures face was white with green eyes and a gold V on its forehead and another relief of a skull and crossbones was in the center of it. As the armored figure began to stand to its full height, the monsters began to back away, intimidated by the figure, "…I see… so that's why I remember seeing it…"

Heero was the armored figure and he examined himself for a brief moment, "(…This is the Gundam used by Gundam pilot Tobia Arronax… The Crossbone Gundam X1 Full Cloth…)"

The Jyaki that had tried to flatten Heero before made a second attempt, this time though, Heero caught the club in mid-swing. Heero did not even need to use any strength at all to hold the crude weapon back, rather he simply broke the blunt weapon.

Before the Jyaki could do anything else, the 'eyes' of the skull and crossbones on the torso of the X1 lit up for a brief moment before machine gun bullets were ejected from the torso straight at the monster. The empty shell cases hit the ground once before vanishing, and within a few short seconds the ogre-like monster was a bullet ridden corpse.

Once the monster had fallen, Heero reached behind his back and pulled out a crossbow-like weapon with nine beam guns attached to it and the words 'Peacock Smasher' were in bold letters on the sides of the weapon. The moment he pulled the trigger, several quick bursts of thermal energy escaped from the beam guns followed by a sustained beam.

The Peacock Smasher proved more than enough to thin out the number of monsters, leaving nothing but a swath of destruction behind. With only two monsters life to deal with, Heero put away the beam weapon and pulled out a long white sword with a skull and crossbone relief, two handles, one of which had a trigger attached to it, and fourteen openings along the sides.

One of the remaining monsters, a Jyaki, rushed the Crossbone Gundam, however the attack was doomed to failure, as pink thermal energy erupted out of the openings along the sword and cut through both the Jyaki and the club it was wielding before it had a chance to strike.

The monster fell into two pieces, and Heero turned his attention to the last monster: a Chimera. The monster was obviously intimidated. Heero put his sword away and a part of his metal mask slid out of place, revealing a glowing mouth, yellow mist escaped from the opening and the sight paralyzed the monster.

The right half of the 'coat' the Gundam was wearing fell off, and Heero grabbed the bulky shoulder piece to reveal the actual shoulder underneath. The thrusters mounted on the Gundam's back came to life and propelled the Crossbone Gundam into the air.

With frightening speed, the Gundam sped towards the monster with the shoulder piece in hand that now looked like a boxing glove. Heero threw his fist out and delivered a powerful, bone-crushing blow to the monster, then the 'boxing glove' split apart to reveal a beam saber, which Heero drove into the monster while still pushing the thrusters at high speed.

A large pink explosion erupted shortly after Heero had impaled the monster. While there was no trace of the monster, the Crossbone Gundam remained unscathed. The girls were awe-struck by the power of the Gundam, "That was…"

"…Amazing." The 'mouth' of the Crossbone Gundam closed, then the Gundam fell to one knee, and Heero reverted to his regular form, though he was now unconscious.

Neptune, Compa and IF rushed over to the teen, while the white haired swordstress hid behind a wall, fearing for Heero's health.

Xxx

Heero slowly began to stir, then regained consciousness. He found himself back in the hotel room the party was staying in, "…I must have fell unconscious… again."

"It's nice to see that your awake, Heero." Heero swiftly turned onto his side and his eyes widened when he saw Neptune lying on the bed next to him, "…What are you doing in bed with me?"

"Isn't it obvious? I wanted to be next my lover when he finally woke up." The purple haired swordstress' lips curved into a seductive smile, "And you confirmed my suspicions. You DO like big breasts."

Heero raised a questioning eyebrow, "…What do you mean?" Neptune moved closer to Heero, "While you were asleep, you squeezed my breasts, AND you used them as pillows… not that I'm complaining mind you."

Neptune grabbed one of Heero's hands and squeezed her right breast with it, "You squeezed them… just… like… this…" Heero pulled his hand way from the beautiful girl next to him, "Stop that."

Neptune suddenly draped herself on top of Heero, "I'm feeling a little tired. I might as well sleep in here with you, Heero." The door to the room swung open and both Compa and IF walked in, "Nep-Nep, is Heero-"

The nurse-in-training cut herself off when she saw the swordstress on top of Heero, "Th-That's not fair, Nep-Nep! You're cheating!"

"We were just playing around." Neptune fixed her attention Heero and stuffed his face into her cleavage, "But if Heero has had enough foreplay, I'm more than happy go farther."

Heero mentally sighed as he felt Neptune push his face further in-between her soft mounds, "(…This has been one hell of a day.)"

Xxx

Me: "And there's chapter 8 for you, people. I did the best job I could trying to describe the Crossbone Gundam… at least I got my story updated." (Suddenly starts crying.)

Compa: (Walks in an notices the author(me) crying) "What's wrong Mr. Author?"

Me: (Looks at Compa and buries his head into her chest) "It's terrible, Compa! I meant to have this chapter uploaded yesterday, but I had so much work to do! Wahh!"

Compa: (Pats author on the head) "There, there, Mr. Author. You did your best, and the chapter got finished."

Me: "…You really think so?"

Compa: (Nods head)

IF: (Walks in and notices Author and Compa) "What's going on?"

Compa: "Mr. Author is sad that he didn't get his story updated when he wanted to."

Me: "Iffy, do you mind wrapping up this chapter for me?"

IF: (Shrugs) "Sure."

Me and Compa: (Walk off set)

IF: "Well, he got the chapter done even when he had a ton of work to do. So all of you readers show your appreciation by reviewing this story, see ya." (Walks off set)


	10. Lowee, Land of White Serenity

Me: "Okay, so we're on to chapter 10 now, are we? Still a long way to go… but thanks to the support of the readers I have gotten this far, so we'll see where we go from here."

Black Heart: (Walks in and stands in front of Author) "Hey, how come I've only just now been allowed into the introduction to the chapters?"

Me: "Well, you have to be a part of Heero's harem to do intros."

Black Heart: (Looks away) "Speaking of Heero… do we… you know…"

Me: "Have sex? I was planning on it… just not this early in the story. Though daydreams don't count, so we may have a lot of those."

Black Heart: (Face turns red) "D-Don't say it like that!"

Me: "How do you want me to say it then?"

Black Heart: (Brief pause) "I don't know, just not like that."

Me: (Looks off to the side of the set) "On that note, I think you may want to leave, Noirey. I do believe Heero is coming, unless of course you'd rather stay."

Black Heart: (Fidgeting slightly) "S-Should I? I-I mean I realize that Heero's coming to help with the introduction, but… I mean… I…"

Me: "Want him to bend you over? Have sex? Is that what you mean?"

Black Heart: (Face turns completely red and stammers) Wh-What?! N-No! Wh-What makes you think I want to have s-sex with him?!"

Me: Come on, Noirey. It's written all over your face."

Heero: (Walks in and notices Black Heart before directing his attention to the Author) "…I was not informed that someone else would be here to handle the introduction."

Me: (Looks at Black Heart)

Black Heart: (Mouthing 'Please don't tell him!')

Me: "She just came to ask about the story and how it was coming, y'know, nothing really important. Anyway, I gotta get back to work on the next chapter, think you can wrap up the introduction for me, Heero? Don't forget the disclaimer."

Heero: "Mission… understood."

Me and Black Heart: (Walk of set)

Black Heart: "Why didn't you tell him? N-Not that I wanted you to."

Me: "Noirey, if I did that I would have ruined part of this story… a VERY important part and while it is only one part, if I ruined it I would have ruined the story as a whole and we can't have that. People seem to love this story with all of its action, comedy, and most importantly the romance… since Heero has a harem in it. Besides, it wouldn't have meant anything unless you were the one who told him."

Black Heart: "Wh-What makes you so sure that I would say anything like that to Heero? I-I don't like him!"

Me: "Just a feeling… Writer's intuition."

Heero: (Currently on set, cannot hear Black Heart or Author)"HeeroU-"

Neptune: (Runs onto set and glompes Heero)"Heero! Are you doin' the intro to the chapter? Let's read off the disclaimer together!"

Compa: (Walks onto set with her cheeks puffed up) "I want to read the disclaimer with Heero, Nep-Nep!"

Neptune: "Well, it's already been decided that the destined lovers are gonna read the disclaimer, Compa. So sorry, but you gotta go back and get ready for when the intro is over."

IF: (Walks in after Compa) "Instead of competing over who gets to wrap up the introductions with Heero, why don't we all do it? (I don't see any other way of getting to read the disclaimer with Heero either.)"

Heero: "That would be the best course of action, as it will reduce any pointless bickering, and in turn reduce the time required to return to the actual story. We cannot waste it simply on the chapter introduction."

Neptune: "Well, fine, but only 'cause Heero thinks it's a good idea."

Heero, Neptune, Compa and IF: "HeeroUzuki does not own Gundam Wing, Hyperdimension Neptunia, or anything related to either one."

Neptune: "…But he says he totally wishes that he did."

Heero: "…Didn't you say that during the last introduction?"

Neptune: "Yeah, but I thought I would remind 'em."

Heero, Neptune, Compa and IF: (Walk off set)

Xxx

Pairings include: HeeroXNeptune/Purple Heart, HeeroXIF, HeeroXNoire/Black Heart, HeeroXCompa, HeeroXVert/Green Heart, HeeroXBlanc/White Heart, HeeroXNisa, HeeroXGust, HeeroXHistoire, HeeroX5pb, HeeroXRed, IFX Vert/Green Heart, IFX5pb, and IFXRed.

**Ch. 9 Lowee, Land of White Serenity**

The party was waiting in the center of the capital city of Lastation, as they had taken the previous day off to give Heero time to rest. Having been sick for as long as he had been, it was only natural that Heero would be tired after his sickness passed, though that was not all, as he had also obtained a new, more powerful transformation.

Compa, who was sitting on a bench with Heero, Neptuna and IF, suddenly stood up, her face a mixture of determination and nervousness, "I… I think I should go back to that park again…"

Neptune gave the nurse-in-training a quizzical look, "Aren't you all knee-knockin' and scared of the kid?"

"Yes… but, I can't get him off my mind." Compa's eyes looked slightly watery, "His eyes… They are the eyes of a neglected child craving a loving embrace!"

The purple haired preteen stood up from her seat, "I kinda figured you'd end up like this. You totally can't ignore people with problems."

Heero stood up from his seat as well, "If you are serious about locating the boy, then I should accompany you."

The pink haired nurse looked at the Gundam pilot, her cheeks turned a light pink, "You will go with me, Heero?"

Heero nodded in response, while Neptune eyed Compa, "I see what you're tryin' to do, Compa. You're tryin' to get Heero to be all worried about you 'cause you were scared of that kid, and you're gonna run off with Heero and do the thing with him and raise harem flags!"

Compa's face turned a deep shade of crimson, "Th-That's not why Heero's coming with me! …At least… I don't think so… but I wouldn't mind if… THAT was the reason…"

IF looked up from her cell phone, "We'll all go to give Compa our support… and make sure she doesn't try anything with Heero."

With that, the party headed towards the park that the little boy who enjoyed antagonizing Compa seemed to hang around.

Xxx

Upon arriving at the park Neptune started scanning the area, but could not see anyone else there, "I dunno… I don't see him… Maybe he gave up and went home."

It was clear that Compa was concerned for the boy's well-being, "If he even has a home to go to! I'm sure he's just a poor child who was beaten and abandoned by his parents. Like other children, he wants to play the best games… but he has no money!And I… I acted so cold towards him…!"

"Oh, you ladies are back?"

The party turned around to see the little boy who had been at the park time and again, asking the party to buy a game console for him. Neptune began to look slightly flustered, "Greedy Boy appears! Command? What's with that attitude? 'You ladies?!' You think you're some kinda stud?!"

"C-Calm down. No reason to get so flustered! I was just trying to be her friend since she looked so lonely here."

Neptune gave the boy a blank stare, "Her friend? Compa's…?"

"Yeah. I mean, I crossed the line when I met all four of you before, but…"

Compa had been taken completely by surprise, "Huh? Th-Then, about your birthday and…"

"Sorry. I've already got the newest console. My pops is on the development team, so I always get the newest one right away. The third-gen system has tons of memory!"

IF looked over at Compa, "So that means… Compa… you were sort of being picked on, after all…"

"I better get moving. I was invited to an industry party with my dad tonight. Good day, miserable-looking ladies. Oh, well, you've all got wonderful racks. Just saying. And you're friend there doesn't look miserable like you guys, he looks cool."

The boy quickly left the park, leaving the party in stunned silence. Neptune started shouting at the boy as he ran, "Y-Y-You booger! Are you saying besides my boobs, I look miserable?! C-Compa, are you…"

IF put a hand on Neptune's shoulder, "Nep, leave her alone. She's about to have a mental breakdown from all the confusing logic going around."

A nervous drop of sweat slowly creeped down the side of the preteen's face as she looked at Compa, "G-Good idea."

Compa's left eye was twitching as she began to have her 'mental breakdown', "Gh… agh… ahhh…!"

Heero was the only member of the party that received any kind of complement from the boy, though he did not seem to care. Neptune, Heero and IF decided that it would be best to give Compa time to herself after what had just transpired.

Xxx

After finding out the little boy's real reason for picking on Compa, and said Nurse's breakdown, the party made their way to Passe after they received another request from Chian.

When they arrived, Neptune burst through the doorway as she had done the last few times the party had entered the weapons factory, "Hi-hi! You called for us, Chian?"

Heero, Compa and IF entered after their bubbly leader. Chian was waiting behind the counter with an object in front of her, "I've finished my test model for our showcase at the Expo."

Compa's concern could be seen in her eyes, "You're really going? The Expo's run by the Parliament now. You might not even have a chance to get them to look at your stuff."

"I can't back out since I've invested so much already. Not going is no longer an option. Besides, Lady Black Heart has the final say. The Parliament can't defy her."

Neptune tilted her head to the side, "Is she even gonna be there? The Sanctuary people are ignored by the Parliament side, right?"

Heero began to lean on the wall, though unlike the last few times he wasn't having to lean on it to support a weakened body, "That is highly doubtful."

"Nice to see that your friend has gotten better. Yes, it's nothing for us to worry about. The Expo isn't the Expo without the main guest. The Parliament wants more authority over the Sanctuary. It's just a power play. No point if there's no goddess, though!"

Chian placed her hand on the counter in front of her, "Back to the topic. I wanted to ask you girls and your friend to work at my booth, since we're showcasing weaponry."

Upon hearing Chian's request, IF flew off the handle, "Wh-What? No! I won't lower myself to become a booth babe for show!"

"It's not like that. I want you to demonstrate the weapon's functions. You're all used to handling them, y'know? I'll even let you keep them as a reward after the Expo ends!"

Neptune's eyes lit up, "Oh, so what kinda weapon is it? Is it cool? Ba-boom powerful?! C'mon, c'mon, c'mon, let's do it! We get free stuff! We spend so much on weapons. Wouldn't it be totally rad to not have to pay for once?"

IF crossed her arms, still irritated, "Well sure… but, no! It sounds like a chore and it's still kind of embarrassing. You agree, right Compa?"

The nurse-in-training looked between the brunette and the bubbly preteen, "But Chian is asking for our help and… we need powerful weapons to fight monsters…"

IF turned to Heero, "Heero, what do you think? We could be doing something else instead of this. Something more important."

Heero glanced at IF for a brief moment before closing his eyes, "Even if I were to take your side on this matter, Neptune and Compa would more than likely disregard anything I have to say. They also bring up two very good points: one, we would be able to conserve our funds by helping Ms. Chian, and two, we do need more powerful equipment if we are to continue with our primary mission."

Neptune stuck her tongue out at IF, who shot a glare back at her in response, "Done! Match end! Three against one, so majority wins. Iffy, you will join us because we're a party!"

IF rolled her eyes as she turned her back to Neptune, "…It's irritating to have stupid, gullible, moe girls in my party sometimes. The only reason Heero is taking your side is because you would completely blow off whatever he has to say, and he's looking at the situation from a logical perspective."

The purple haired girl latched onto Heero's left arm, "No, Heero is taking my side because he is my lover and would do ANYTHING for me."

Chian waited until she was sure that the girls were done arguing, "Oh, almost forgot. Wait here. I'm going to lend you the test model."

The owner of Passe passed through the door behind the counter, and in less than thirty seconds came back with a long, thin box. Chian opened the container and handed its contents to Neptune, etched into the side of the saber-like weapon were the words 'Mech Sword Armas'.

Neptune's eyes began to gleam as she looked from the beam saber-like in her hands to Chian, and back again, "Are you for cereal?! Don't you need it to display at the Expo?"

"…You do know what a 'test model' is, right? I'm making the real item now. I want you to use the test model to find anything that needs improvement. I'm basically asking you to test it for me."

Neptune tilted her head at Chian, keeping a firm grip on the 'beam' weapon in her hands, "So, we find any defects and report to you, right?"

Heero, Compa and IF could see Chian's eye twitch, "Basically… but don't use the term 'defect.'"

With the test model of Chian's weapon in hand, the party left the weapons factory, not only to test the product, but to also take care of their own personal agenda.

Xxx

The group had stopped half way along the path to the Sky Harbor and Neptune was swinging the Mech Sword Armas around in a playful manner, its purple thermal blade cutting through the air, though IF kept getting onto her for it, "Stop swinging that all over the place before you poke someone's eye out."

Neptune faced the brunette with the test weapon still in her hands, "But Iffy, Chian told us to test it out."

While Neptune and IF were bickering, Heero was leaning on a tree with his backpack on the ground next to him and two disks surrounded by binary code floating in front of him. One had an image of the Wing Gundam on it, the other had an image of the Crossbone Gundam, "(…There are obvious differences in the performance of the two suits. The Wing Gundam requires less energy to maintain, while the Crossbone Gundam is much more powerful.)"

The Perfect Soldier closed his eyes and began to reminisce.

Xxx

_Heero was working on the Wing Gundam Zero in a Mobile Suit hanger, the hustle and bustle of engineers making the only other Perfect Soldier saw one individual in particular making his way over to the teen, he had dirty blonde hair, red eyes, wore a blue and white pilot suit and he had a blue helmet tucked under his arm._

_Heero looked up from his laptop which he was using for the Wing Gundam Zero's maintenance, "Tobia Arronax… If you have a question make it brief, I must finish checking Zero's systems before we depart for Jupiter."_

_The leader of the Crossbone Vanguard scratched the back of his head, "Well, it's nothing really important… I was just wondering why you decided to help us, Heero. This IS a suicide mission."_

_Heero looked up at the Mobile Suit standing before him, "Zero told me that if Callisto's Light and Callisto's Shadow are allowed to fire the colony laser, the possibility that the earth will be destroyed is in the higher ninetieth percentile and the loss of life would be horrendous."_

_Tobia walked over to the mobile weapon next to the Wing Zero, the Crossbone Gundam X1, which had been modified for the fourth time since it was first built, "I'm a little nervous to be honest… What if we don't make it back? I won't be able to…"_

"…_Tell Ms. Bernadette Briett that you are in love with her?" Tobia quickly pushed his hand against Heero's mouth, "D-Don't say it out loud! I-I don't want the others to find out yet."_

_After checking to make sure no one had heard them, Tobia returned his attention to the Crossbone Gundam, "It's strange… it was only three years ago that I was an exchange student, now I'm a Mobile Suit pilot and the leader of the Crossbone Vanguard. If we make it back, will I be able to tell Bernadette how I feel about her?"_

_The sixteen year old pilot just looked at his Gundam, as if it would give him the answer. While the X1 was slightly smaller than the Wing Zero, it was no less powerful, the X1 Full Cloth was outfitted with a sizeable arsenal and a number of defense systems. Heero looked at the pilot who was the same age as he was, then closed his laptop, "If that is all you are concerned about, then you have nothing to worry about."_

_Heero stood up with his laptop under his arm, "All I will tell you is that you will have a rather… personal moment with Ms. Briett." Tobia looked at the pilot of the Wing Zero for a moment, trying to decipher what he meant, "What do you mean? Tell me!"_

"_I cannot, otherwise it may jeopardize the outcome." Tobia quickly followed after Heero in an attempt to get an answer from him, "I won't stop bugging you until you tell me, Heero!"_

_True to his word, Tobia continued to pester Heero with the question even after they had left the hanger and when they departed for Jupiter._

Xxx

Heero still had his eyes closed, thinking about events that have passed, "(Tobia… the reason why I could not tell you was because Ms. Bernadette told me she had feelings for you. Zero predicted that both of you would convey these feelings to one another after we stopped the colony laser, but I was not in any way to accelerate this event, otherwise it may have caused your feelings to go astray and you would not be with her now.)"

When Heero opened his eyes, Neptune was standing right in front of him, she had even put down her new sword, "You okay, Heero? You're not getting sick on us again, are ya? If you are, just tell me and I'll give you a lover's kiss, that'll cure any status ailment! ...At least I think."

Heero pushed himself off the tree he was leaning on, "Rest assured, I have not contracted any other illnesses. Right now, we must decide on our course of action."

Neptune blinked at Heero for a moment, "Whatcha mean?"

"Chian has tasked us with testing her new weapon, we have time before the Technology Expo is schedule to take place, and there are currently no job offers from Lastation. With that, I would like to make a recommendation; we should move to a different landmass while we wait for the Expo."

Compa was sitting in a bed of flowers nearby when she heard Heero talking about heading to another landmass, "But what about the Key Fragment? We still haven't found it yet."

IF, who was sitting on a boulder, looked up from her cell phone, "Heero's obviously thought this through, otherwise he wouldn't have said anything in the first place. Besides it sounds like a good idea to me. We haven't found the Key Fragment here on Lastation because we've been blindly searching for it without any clues. We have to wait for the Tech Expo, and then win before we can do anything else."

The nurse-in-training gave the brunette a quizzical look, "There are still dungeons that we haven't checked though."

IF hopped of the boulder she was sitting on and made her way over to the rest of the party, "Random dungeon crawling will only get us so far. If we meet with Lady Black Heart, we may be able to ask about the locations of strong monsters and that will narrow our search. And like Heero said, there isn't any work available here in Lastation. Our travel budget will suffer if we just stay here and wait for the Expo."

Neptune picked the test weapon back up from where she had put it, "So… where do you guys wanna go? There's Planeptune and… two other landmasses I know nothin' about."

Heero picked up his back pack from off the ground and slipped his left arm through both of the straps, "Should we choose to go to Planeptune, there will no doubt be job offers for us, though I will remind you that we have already obtained the Key Fragment from Planeptune. On the other hand, if we travel to one of the other two landmasses we may not only find jobs to undertake, but there is still a Key Fragment on each of the two landmasses. Of course, we will have to obtain information on their locations so we don't have to go on blind searches."

Neptune's stomach suddenly began to growl, prompting the preteen to hold her stomach, "All of this thinking is making me hungry… let's just hurry up and pick something, and then get something to eat."

The Perfect Soldier looked past Neptune towards the Sky Harbor, "Another landmass is approaching Lastation now. It is not Planeptune, meaning that it has to be one of the other two landmasses. I will follow whatever course of action you decide to take, Neptune. Though I strongly advise against remaining here for the time being."

As the party was discussing their next course of action, a certain white haired swordstress was spying on them from a distance, specifically Heero, "…Heero is entering the Tech Expo? It would give me a chance to find out what kind of girl he's interested in…"

As soon as she had realized what she had just said, the white haired girl shook her head in a violent manner, "…Stop thinking about what kind of girl Heero's interested in, Black Heart! It's not like you care or anything!"

While she said one thing, she was thinking the exact opposite as she began to have an erotic daydream of herself with the aforementioned teen.

Xxx

_The white haired girl was on top of a two mattress bed, naked, and bent over in front of Heero, who was also without his clothes and his member was fully erected. The swordstress looked back at Heero, her face noticeably red, "Heero… not THERE…"_

_The Gundam pilot leaned close to the girl's ear, "Are you nervous?"_

"_W-Well… yeah… I-I-I've never done this before… or anything like it." Heero lightly kissed the back of the swordstress' neck, sending a shiver down her spine, "…I will be as gentle as possible."_

_The white haired girl averted her eyes from the soldier behind her for a brief moment, "…You promise?"_

_Heero cupped the mystery girl's chin, turned her face so she was looking at him, and then planted a light kiss on her lips, "I make this promise only to you."_

_The Perfect Soldier slowly began to close the distance between his body and that of the white haired girl's. The last thing that was heard before the mysterious setting went white was the sound of the moans, grunts and groans from Heero and the swordstress._

Xxx

The white haired swordstress, who was still hiding from the party, was staring off into space. There was a small pond near the girl, and when she snapped out of her daydream she saw blood trickling down her nose.

The swordstress wiped the red liquid off her face and violently shook her head while swinging her sword in the air wildly, her cheeks now a deep crimson, "Wh-Wh-What am I doing thinking s-something like that?! Th-There's no way I'd ever consider doing THAT with Heero!"

Of course as she said this, the white haired girl was assaulted by another erotic daydream.

Xxx

_The setting was the same as the… thrilling daydream from seconds ago, aside from the bed and the two individuals occupying it, there was nothing else. The only difference was that the swordstress was now on her back with Heero in-between her legs._

_The girl was looking down, unable to look Heero in the eye, "…Th-This is my first time… So be gentle… Okay?"_

_Heero gently stroked the mystery girl's cheek with the back of his hand, "As you wish…"_

_Heero leaned closer to the swordstress and gave her a full mouth kiss, slowly tracing the girl's lips with his tongue. When the girl pulled back from the teen to speak Heero almost immediately closed the gap, slipping his tongue through the swordstress' slightly open mouth._

_The white haired girl began to melt into the kiss, her arms slowly making their way around Heero's neck. Heero positioned himself outside of the swordstress' entrance and gave a single, powerful thrust._

_The white haired girl arched into the Gundam pilot as she let out a long, drawn out moan. And as the setting began to turn white, the girl's loud moans and Heero's grunts were all that could be heard."_

Xxx

Once again, the mystery girl was staring off into space, blood was gushing out of her nose like a faucet. The swordstress picked up a heavy rock and hurled in a random direction as she shook her head, "Shut up!"

The rock was thrown in the direction of the boulder near Neptune, Heero, Compa and IF, and when it smashed against the large object the party ceased their conversation and scanned the area for whatever it was that through the rock, "Did you guys see that rock? It came flying out of nowhere and went 'splat' all over that boulder!"

"Nep-Nep, we need to look for whoever or whatever threw that rock. There may be a monster nearby!"

The white haired swordstress had hid behind a nearby tree, hoping that the party would not find her, "I can't let them find me! Though… if they did… It would give me a chance to talk to Heero."

After a few seconds of staring off into space yet again, the mystery girl began to beat on the tree she was hiding behind, "…Stupid Black Heart! Stop thinking about Heero! You don't care for him one bit."

IF turned in the direction of what sounded like dull thuds, "Over there?"

The white haired girl froze, had Neptune and her party found her? The swordstress could hear the footsteps of four different people drawing closer.

As she waited for the group to find her behind the tree and eventually accuse her of coming after both Neptune and Heero, the swordstress questioned why it she was hiding from the party. It wasn't like she committed a crime or anything, she had nothing to hide. Though she wouldn't admit it, the white haired girl was just nervous about asking Heero what his preferences in girls were.

"Ah-ha! Found you!" The mystery girl flinched, Neptune's party had finally found her… or so she thought. When the girl looked over at Neptune and her party, they were standing near a tree a few feet away from the tree that the swordstress was hiding behind.

The group had encircled a Jyaki, because of how big the monster was the party had no problem believing that it was the culprit that threw the rock at them, "You got some nerve attacking a couple of cute girls, especially when my super strong bodyguard is here!"

Neptune immediately glomped Heero, who was standing next to her, "By the way, I totally trust you with MY body, Heero. We should totally have out M rated scene later."

Compa's cheeks puffed up at Neptune at the mentioning of having an 'M rated scene', "Nep-Nep, I want an M rated scene with Heero, too!"

IF clenched her fists until her knuckles turned white, "Now is not the time to be thinking about that! (Besides, it's obvious that I should be the one to have… THAT kind of scene of scene with Heero, seeing as how I'm the most mature.)"

Neptune of course blew IF off, "Yeah, yeah, whatever Iffy. Let's kick his butt!"

Heero had transformed into the Crossbone Gundam to see what the Mobile Suit was capable of, "Roger… eliminating the target."

The white haired girl watched the one sided brawl from behind the tree, turned around and began to walk away, "Well, I should make it a point to see Heero at the Expo… N-Not that I care about him or anything, I just want to see what company he works for and what he'll be showcasing."

After the short fight, Neptune held her stomach, "…Need… food… Let's hurry up and go to that new landmass. They've gotta have new kinds of food for me to eat."

Compa let out a tired sigh, "Nep-Nep, is food the only thing you're thinking about?"

Neptune's cheek grew slightly red as she looked down at the ground, "Of course not. I'm also thinking about when Heero's final ready to have our M rated scene."

Heero looked on as the three girls began to bicker amongst themselves on the topic of an 'M rated scene with Heero', "(…I am beginning to question the sanity of these three girls.) Since it has been decided that we will travel to the incoming landmass, it would be best for us to depart for the Sky Harbor."

Neptune jumped onto the now mechanized Heero's back, "You can carry me there because that's what a good lover would do, and you can fly, too."

Compa and IF almost immediately jumped onto Heero's back as soon as they realized that Heero was indeed capable of flight while transformed, and because they had no intention of letting Neptune keep the Gundam pilot all to herself, "Heero, please carry me too. I-I mean, we are supposed to be… l-lovers after all."

"I'm not in the same boat as those two, but it would cut down on the time it would take us to get to the next landmass. (Though I would like to say it's because… we're… l-lo… lovers.)"

Heero saw himself with no recourse but to ferry the three girls to the Sky Harbor via the flight capabilities provided by his transformation, "Then it would be in your best interest to hold on."

Neptune tightened her grip on Heero's metal frame, "Don't worry about that, Heero. I'll hold on extra tight."

Once Heero was sure that the three females had grabbed onto some part of his armor, the thrusters on the Gundam's back flared to life and propelled the Mobile Suit and his passengers towards the Sky Harbor.

Xxx

The path to the new landmass was just as short as the one the party took to get to Lastation, possibly even shorter despite the fact that it looked similar in appearance. It was, of course, a cave-like path with white luminescent crystal strewn all along the sides of the path. Neptune was walking out in front of the party, a big smile on her face, "I wonder what kinda monsters and food this new landmass is gonna have."

IF rolled her eyes at the preteen, who acted as though she did not have a care in the world, "Is filling your stomach all you can think about? We should be more focused on how we're going to find the Key Fragments."

Heero was walking behind the three girls, no longer in his Mobile Suit form so as to conserve his energy, "Unfortunately, simply searching for a dungeon with powerful monsters will not guarantee that we will find a Key Fragment. Finding a source of information that is even slightly reliable is already going to be a difficult task."

Neptune began to rub her stomach, "All of this thinking is making me even more hungry… Let's hurry and get to the new landmass and get some food, then you guys can think all you want."

Heero, Compa and IF watched as Neptune ran straight towards the exit of the 'bridge', "Nep-Nep is supposed to be our leader… But she's so focused on food."

Just as the party was about to exit the bridge, a plump, green bird called a 'Vorpal' waddled out from behind a white luminescent crystal. Though it was very slow, Neptune still saw it as an attempt to ambush the party, "Surprise attacks aren't cool!"

The purple haired girl pulled the Mech Sword Armas out of her hoodie pocket. The prototype weapon emitted a purple beam in the form of a saber, and Neptune ran at the bird-like monster with the beam saber held over her head.

The monster's eyes looked as though they were about to pop out as it watched Neptune run at it. The test weapon almost effortlessly cut through the large bird, leaving it dead on the ground once the thermal weapon had cut through it. Neptune stopped to stare at the now deceased monster, "…I betcha it tastes like chicken. Let's cook it and find out!"

Heero grabbed Neptune by the collar of her hoodie and threw the preteen over his shoulder before walking towards the exit of the bridge, "You should not put strange things in your mouth, even more so when you do not know where that monster has been."

Neptune's face was slightly red from her current position over the teen's shoulder, "You say that, but I know you just wanted to look at my panties. Heero, you're a pervert. But… since we're lovers I'll let you look."

"…I have no interest in looking at your undergarments."

The preteen stuck her tongue out in a cute manner, "Then why're you looking at them? You totally want me, Heero and I understand that, but you gotta wait till we're in bed together before we can have our M Rated scene."

Heero choose to ignore Neptune as he carried her towards the exit.

Xxx

When the party stepped out of the bridge, the first thing Heero noted was the snow falling from the sky. There was so much of it that the ground and the tops of the trees were easily covered with a thick blanket of the white flakes of frozen water. Off in the distance was a large sky blue castle with blue roofing and three large balloons tied to it, one blue, one purple, and one orange. A rainbow could be seen past the castle.

There were cable cars ferrying passengers to and from the smaller islands surrounding the landmass, all of which were also covered with snow. Neptune withdrew her arms into her hoodie as her teeth began to chatter, "I-I-It's s-s-so c-c-cold!"

Compa wrapped her arms around herself as she shook violently from the low temperature, "T-T-Too cold!"

IF merely crossed her arms and exhaled, her breath was visible since the air was saturated and extra water vapor was condensed, "Those two are hopeless."

Heero was looking towards the city, "Our first objective should be to find the Basilicom."

Neptune quickly slipped one arm back through a hoodie sleeve and pointed towards the city, "Th-Th-Then let's m-m-move, people! I'm f-f-freezin' here!"

The party began to wade through the snow towards civilization, though Heero and IF had to stop a number of times along the way so Neptune and Compa could catch up.

Xxx

Once they arrived inside of the Basilicom, Neptune and Compa ran over to a heater to warm themselves, Compa was still shaking like a leaf, "Ohhhh… That was so freezing! Our lives would have been in danger from a status ailment if we remained in the snow."

Neptune was rubbing her hands together to generate some heat, "Yeah, some energy of some kind was totally getting drained whenever I was all talky. Like my soul was trying to jump ship."

A Basilicom staff member made his way over to the party as they were recuperating, "Are you okay? You girls hardly look layered enough to travel in the snow."

IF had been checking her cell phone when the staff member approached them, "They're just whining. It wasn't all that cold. Does this have something to do with Lowee's goddess?"

Neptune had curled up into a ball next to the heater, her arms wrapped around legs, "Ooh, nice. It's so warm and cozy in here. I dunno how to explain the difference with words alone! So yeah, to the point. Do you know where any strong monsters are around here? We're traveling the world, finding Key Fragments and fighting monsters!"

"Why not go to the Central Basilicom, Entremets, if you're curious about monster research? This Basilicom is just a local branch."

Compa's eyes slowly began to widen, "There are two Basilicoms in Lowee? Then there are two goddesses?! They must be twins!"

"No, no. Each city has its own local Basilicom to govern the area. The Central Basilicom, also known as Entremets, is where all local Basilicoms are managed. Our CPU resides there."

Neptune inclined her head, then assumed her thinking position, "Okay. So if I go there, I can bug them about monsters and say hey to the goddess, right?"

"Yeah. I'll give you a map to find it. The roads can be a bit harsh, so be careful."

Neptune stood up and threw her arms around Heero, "There's no need to worry about that, I've got my destined lover/bodyguard to protect me. I think I'll be just fine."

The Basilicom staff member blinked a few times, "Destined lover? Are you two close? I was under the impression that he was perhaps in a relationship with one of your other two friends."

Compa and IF let out a small squeak when the employee said he thought Heero was in a relationship with one of them and their cheeks began to burn, meanwhile Neptune looked peeved, "Yeah, well, he's my lover, so there!"

After grabbing the map from the Basilicom employee, the party headed back out into the snowy plains of Lowee. While Neptune was starting to get cold yet again, Compa and IF were unaffected by the cold, their faces still red from the conversation not more than a minute ago.

Xxx

Heero had been put in charge of directing the group with the map, as Neptune had almost gotten the party lost when it was in her possession. The party was making their way through a dense forest, the trees had no leaves, a few trees were lying on the ground, and all that could really be seen for the most part was snow covered flora and fauna.

Neptune was shaking violently, wrapping her arms around herself in a futile effort to keep warm, "…Brrrr. It's so cold, my butt's frozen. I think. I wanna curl up with Heero by a fire with some hot chocolate and a big blanket."

IF shook her head as she listened to Neptune complain, "It's really not that cold. We're not even dressed heavily. If you're that cold, do you want my hot pack?"

The preteen snapped her head around to look at the brunette, "Hot pants?! What? What's that sort of thing doing in Lowee? This's supposed to be a magical fantasy world of fun!"

"Hot pack. Pack. I brought stuff from Planeptune just in case. Trade it off every few minutes."

Neptune grabbed the hot pack from IF, holding the small heater in her hands, "Oh, yeah! Okay, I get it. You're after me, Compa!"

Compa's teeth were chattering, "Th-Thank you so much! It looks like Entremets is located through the forest. Why would they build their main Basilicom there? It should be made more accessible for normal people."

IF let her arms fall to her sides, "It's a sacred place for the goddess. This way, idiots like Nep can't wander in, break stuff, and leave so easily."

Neptune had her hands on her hips, "I see! …Wait, you make it sound like I'm suspicious or something…"

IF completely ignored Neptune and focused her attention on the forest before them, "…It looks like this forest, meant to turn away travelers, has become a place monsters can call home."

As the party made their way further into the forest, IF glanced over at Heero, who was looking between the map and the direction the group was going, "O-Oh, I forgot to ask, do you need a hot pack, Heero? I-I have some extra packs if you want one."

Heero briefly looked over at IF before returning his attention to the direction the party was heading, "Your concern is appreciated, though unnecessary. I have been trained to handle extreme weather conditions, temperatures such as this are not a problem for me."

The brunette looked away, "I-I see. Th-That's good, at least someone can handle the cold." IF lightly pulled on the collar of her tank top and looked through the opening, "(…And I was going to give these two to Heero. It would have counted as indirectly putting his face into my breasts.)"

The path through the forest resembled the layout of the dungeons that the party had explored when taking on job requests, though the fact that the 'walls' were made of snow and were not very high off the ground made Heero think of trenches.

The Gundam pilot folded the map and slipped it into his jacket pocket, "The sooner we arrive at Entremets, the sooner we can acquire information on the location of dungeons that may potentially hold the Key Fragment on this landmass."

Heero turned his gaze on Neptune, who was beginning to shake. She had given the hot pack to Compa and was now starting to freeze, "R-R-Right, let's g-g-go!"

Heero exhaled through his nose before taking off his jacket, "(I admire her determination, but she could very well get herself killed because of it.)"

The Perfect Soldier draped the denim jacket over Neptune's shoulders, surprising the preteen, "Unlike you, Neptune, I have a greater tolerance for temperatures such as this. You need this more than I do."

Compa's cheeks grew red and puffy, then held the hot packs out to Neptune, "Here, Nep-Nep. You can have the hot packs and I'll take Heero's jacket."

Neptune stared at the nurse-in-training for a moment before her lips curved into a grin, "Nope! I'll take the jacket, thank you very much."

The preteen slipped her arms through the jacket sleeves and pushed the extra layer of clothing against herself, "Ah, I can feel my lover's love warming me up already, and it's nice and cozy, too."

Heero's eye noticeably twitched, "We are not lovers."

Neptune wrapped her arms around Heero's torso, "Yes we are, lover. If we weren't lovers then you wouldn't have given me your jacket."

Heero stopped for a moment, "(…It is difficult to argue when she puts it that way. I am beginning to regret my decision of giving her my jacket.)"

Heero decided to drop the subject before Neptune went into other subjects such as her 'M rated scenes'. As the party rounded the first corner of the dungeon-like forest, Neptune saw that the path was blocked by a wall of snow covered rocks, "No sweat, I'll just smash these rocks and we'll be our way. But what if a monster jumps out and attacks us, the suspense is killing me! I'm just gonna smash 'em!"

True to her word, Neptune pulled her Planet Hammer seemingly out of nowhere and brought it down on the row of rocks, breaking each into hundreds of smaller pieces, "There. All done, and no monsters to pop out at us. Kind of a letdown."

IF face palmed herself, "Only you would hope that monsters would pop out at us after clearing an obstacle."

With the obstruction now gone, the party continued along the path to Entremets. For the most part, the trek through the 'dungeon' was uneventful; the party encountered very few monsters, mostly Vorpals, and Neptune was looking bored out of her mind from the lack of action, "This is so boooring! This chapter has so little action in it."

IF stopped to raise a questioning eyebrow, "What did she say?"

The preteen began to flail her arms, "I said I'm bored, Iffy! This whole trip through the forest has been one big snooze cruise."

Neptune scooped up a handful of snow and made it into a ball as IF walked past her, "You're just going to have to deal with it. Even if it is-"

The brunette was stopped short when she felt a cold object strike the back of her head. When IF turned around, she saw Neptune pointing and laughing at her, "Ha! I got you good, Iffy!"

IF clenched her fists, a vein in the side her neck was beginning to show from the anger welling up inside her, "Why you little…!"

IF quickly grabbed a handful of snow off the ground, made it into a neat ball and threw it at purple haired preteen. Neptune ducked under the frozen projectile before it could hit her, the snowball passed harmlessly overhead and struck Compa in the face. Neptune began to taunt IF after her failed attempt to get back at the preteen, "You kinda suck, Iffy. You're never gonna-"

Neptune was suddenly struck in the back of the head with a snowball and landed face first into the ground. Compa was standing a few feet behind Neptune with a snowball in her hands, "All's fair in love and war, Nep-Nep!"

The preteen picked herself up, scooping up some more snow to make another snowball, "You're not getting away with that, Compa!"

Heero watched as Neptune, Compa and IF held a snowball fight, laughing and playing around, trying to hit one another. Just as the playful fighting was about to grow in intensity, IF froze in place, "(Crap, I forgot Heero was watching! He must think I'm a such a kid now!)"

The three girls stopped hurling their frozen projectiles and looked over at Heero, who maintained an emotionless façade, "…I guess it is true."

Neptune inclined her head, trying to decipher what Heero was talking about, "What's true? Does it have anything to do with food?"

The Perfect Soldier mentally sighed, "Far from it. A comrade of mine once told me of the 'Three Times Rule', it is something that only applies to women."

IF began to look at the lone male party member with a slightly quizzical look, "'Three Times Rule?' What exactly is it?"

"…Women appear three times more beautiful in the snow."

Almost instantly, Neptune, Compa and IF's cheeks began to burn. IF averted her gaze from the Gundam pilot, unable to look at him straight in the eye, "Wh-Wh-What are you doing saying something like that?"

Compa shuffled around from embarrassment, "D-D-Do you really think we're b-b-beautiful, Heero?"

Heero walked past the girls, because the soldier said nothing else the three girls began to suspect that Heero did not see them as being beautiful, "…I would not have said it unless it was true."

As Heero was about to continue along the path to Entremets, he felt a pair of arms encircle torso. When he saw the denim sleeves, Heero knew it was the party's favorite bubbly leader who was giving him a hug, "I know what it is you want, Heero. You wanna have our M Rated scene, so say that I'm beautiful! Well, you don't have to say that if you wanna do it, but it does get you more points with me."

Compa wrapped her arms around Heero's left arm just as Neptune had grabbed onto the soldier from behind, "I-If you want to have a… M-M-M Rated scene with me, Heero, I-I-I wouldn't mind at all."

Heero had expected Neptune and Compa to start hugging him as usual whenever he gave them even the smallest compliment, what he had not expected was for IF to take a hold of his right arm with her both of her own arms, "…I can understand why Neptune and Compa would grab onto me, as it is normal for them. What I would like to know is why you are grabbing onto me, IF?"

The IF realized what it was she was doing, though if she pulled away now she believed it would make her look strange in Heero's eyes, "W-Well, I'm feeling a little cold right now. (Can't you tell, Heero? It's because… I…)"

Heero was sure that that was not the case, IF had come prepared and was no doubt wearing a few hot packs so that she would not feel cold. While he wanted to know the real reason, Heero thought it best not to pry, "…It would be in our best interest to leave this area, we will gain nothing by standing around here."

The trio of cute girls let go of Heero before running past him towards the forest exit, "Come on, let's hurry! My butt's gonna get all frozen again if we stay out here."

Heero followed after the girls at his own pace, they may have been goofy and awkward, and may have tried his patience more than a few times, but they were nonetheless trustworthy.

Xxx

After their uneventful trek through the forest, the party final arrived at Entremets, the Central Basilicom as well as the place where the goddess of Lowee resided.

Neptune barged through the door to the Basilicom without so much as even knocking, "Hi-hi! We're here to ask about monsters and to talk to the goddess."

Heero, Compa and IF entered the religious structure after Neptune, though nowhere as loudly, "Considering what kind of place this is, one would think that she would act at least a little more respectful."

A member of the Basilicom's staff approached the party shortly after they entered, though unlike the previous Basilicoms, it was a female employee that greeted them, "Good evening, my name is Financier. You wish for an audience with Lady White Heart?"

Before Neptune had a chance to speak, IF immediately slapped her hand over the preteen's mouth, "Let's let Heero handle this. Knowing you, you might go off topic or say something that could get us kicked out before we have a chance to speak with the goddess."

Heero stood a reasonable distance away from the Financier, "We apologize for the lack of any notification of our arrival. We wish to inquire about the locations of dungeons with particularly strong monsters."

"There is no need to apologize, please follow me."

The party followed Financier as she made her way towards the back of the Basilicom, along the way, the Basilicom employee looked back at Neptune and Heero, "I do not mean to pry, but are you two by any chance a couple? I figure that your friend is in a relationship with at least one of you."

Neptune wrapped her arms around Heero, "Another person who thinks we're a couple! To answer your question; yes, Heero is my destined lover. You can look, but you can't touch."

Financier stopped and looked at Neptune, blinking a few times, "Destined… lover?"

Heero narrowed his eyes at Neptune, who either wasn't paying attention or just did not care, "We are not lovers."

Financier watched the exchange between Heero and Neptune, "Only lovers would bicker like this."

Heero just could not win. No matter how many times he said that he and Neptune were not lovers, other people would think that they were. The group continued towards the back of the Basilicom until they were standing in front of a large set of double doors.

Financier open one of the doors and closed it behind her, leaving Neptune, Heero, Compa and IF out of the room. The Basilicom employee stood just in front of the door, "Lady White Heart, some travelers are requesting an audience. What would you have me do?"

Aside from the wall where the door was located, the walls surrounding the room were made of clear glass that appeared to be well maintained. In the center of the room were six support beams connected together by expertly cut pieces of wood that when connected together as they were made a hexagonal shape, and had well-crafted art designs cut into them. Purple drapes hung from the pillars around sky blue drapes in the center of the pillars.

Lying on the queen sized bed located within the blue drapes was a rather short preteen girl, she had sandy-brown hair that reached down to her neck and dull blue eyes, she wore a cute white dress with dark brown lining and markings on it, a blue ribbon with a white line woven through the center with a blue gem right in the middle, and a white cloth was tied around her right leg.

Next to the preteen was a small stack of books and she held one open in her hands, the young girl looked up from her book and towards the direction of the door, "…I'm busy. Make them leave."

"We've had fewer and fewer visitors coming due to the monsters. Perhaps we should try to be more welcoming…"

While the goddess could see through the sky blue drapes surrounding her bed, Financier could not, so the only indication she had to gone was the tone of Lady White Heart's voice, and she sounded slightly irked, "…You actually believe my ability to protect has weakened due to wavering faith?"

The Basilicom employee stammered for a moment, "A-Absolutely not! How could your protection ever weaken? However, we must do something to raise our reputation. "

The CPU was silent while Financier continued, "They may spread rumors how Lowee's CPU won't even greet travelers who came all the way through the snow to see her."

Lady White Heart returned her gaze to the book in her hands, "…It's not gonna work. You can't make me come out."

"The Evangelist will give you a lecture if you keep that attitude! Besides, they have a handsome young man traveling with them… But that's just my opinion."

The CPU's eye noticeably twitched, though it could not be seen by Financier. Lady White Heart closed her book and released an irritated sigh, "What does one guy have to do with this? …Fine. Let them in. I'll be out in a few."

Financier gave a polite bow before leaving the room, "…Understood."

Xxx

After allowing a few minutes to pass Financier opened the door to allow Neptune, Heero, Compa and IF entrance to Lady White Heart's room, "…Excuse us. These three are the ladies wishing to meet with Lady White Heart. IF, Compa, and Neptune. And this is Neptune's personal bodyguard; Heero. They are traveling the world in search of powerful monsters."

Financier focused her attention on the party, "You girls and your friend are here to ask questions, correct? Please, please, please… be polite. Excuse me."

With that, Financier excused herself from the room, leaving the group of four alone with the CPU of Lowee. Unfortunately, Neptune was quick to strike up a conversation with the goddess without even so much as introducing herself, "Hiya, goddess! It's our first time meeting you, for sure."

Like Financier, no one in the party could see through the drapes that hid the CPU of Lowee, even Heero was having some difficulty trying to see the exact features of the goddess. Lady White Heart scanned the four travelers who were standing in her room, after looking over Neptune, Compa and IF, she allowed her gaze to remain fixed on Heero for a slightly longer period of time than when she looked at the girls.

After she was finished taking in Heero, the CPU turned her gaze on Neptune, "…Neptune. The hell d'you think you're doing here with that fat, cheeky, stupid face?"

Neptune looked from side to side before pointing at herself, "St-Stupid face…? I guess I'm all flush and cheeky from the cold, a-and my face changes when I transform, but… blah!"

The preteen shook her head before regaining her thoughts, "Anyway! We're looking for an item called a Key Fragment. We wanna know if you got any info where…"

Lady White Heart interrupted the bubbly preteen, "…Item questing? What're you plotting?"

Neptune had her hands on her hips, "Well, we gotta get them to save Histy. I thought you might wanna help us."

Compa made her presence known after being silent for the better part of the time the party had been in the Basilicom, "Key Fragments are guarded by strong monsters. If you know of any dungeons where we can fight one…"

"…Save someone? That's good for you. You seem like you don't give a shit about anything else. I haven't heard of an item like that. Too bad."

Neptune scratched the back of her head, as if it helped her to think, "What about monsters? Any ideas where we can go? Or is that totally not goddess knowledge?"

Lady White Heart merely waved the comment/question off, "Aren't I goddess-like enough for you? Oh, so sorry. How about you ask the Basilicom those questions instead?"

The purple haired preteen started flailing her arms, "But, but, but this is your land! You gotta know it like the back of your head, right? If your busy, we can come back later. When're you free? Tomorrow? The day after? The day after that? After that? That?"

"…Never. I told you I don't know. I don't think such an item exists in Lowee. And it's the back of your hand, idiot."

Neptune did not seem willing to accept the fact what Lady White Heart was saying, "What? No way! Histy said there's one on each landmass. In fact, we found one on Planeptune!"

"…This isn't Planeptune."

Neptune inclined her head, "Then… monsters? Anywhere strong monsters gather?"

Heero could tell that the CPU was beginning to get more than a little aggravated, "…You're really pissin' me off. I said to ask the Basilicom. I don't care anymore."

"Would that other chick know? What's her name? …Wait, one more! Have you heard of anyone named Histy? Her full name is-"

By this point, Heero could compare the goddess to a kettle full of water on a stove, and she had reached her boiling point, "Holy crap, shut up! I said I don't know! Such nerve, showing yourself in front of me like this. Enough! Don't ever return!"

Neptune tried to get an answer from Lady White Heart, but Heero placed a hand on the preteen's shoulder and shook his head, "I understand that you wish to gain more information in regards to the Key Fragment, however there is a fine line between persistence and stupidity."

The CPU of Lowee had her attention focused on Heero, "I was told he was supposed to be your bodyguard, but it seems to me that he's actually your babysitter."

Neptune stared at where the goddess was presumed to be with disbelief, "B-Babysitter?! For your information, Heero is my destined lover."

Lady White Heart was choking for a few seconds before sitting straight once more, "Destined lover? You would never honor that kind of a commitment! Though, now that I look at you two, he looks like he's supposed to be your trainer."

"T-T-Trainer?!"

Heero could practically feel the venom in Lady White Heart's words, despite the fact that it was directed at Neptune, "Hey trainer, why don't you put a muzzle on your dumbass dog to keep it from yapping."

Heero kept his surprise to himself, the goddess of Lowee had quite a fowl mouth on her, though for some reason she seemed to slightly nicer to him than Neptune, however that did not take much. Neptune looked back at Heero, "I know I said I wanted an M Rated scene, but this isn't what I had in mind!"

The party decided to excuse themselves before Neptune said or did something that would further anger Lady White Heart. As he passed through the doorway, Heero noticed someone, obviously female, walk past the party and into Lady White Heart's room, "(…I suppose we are not the only one's requesting to see the CPU, though I did not realize that communicating with one of the goddess would prove to be this… problematic."

Lady White Heart was sitting at the foot of her bed, a white jacket with light brown fur, dark blue markings, and brown lining was draped over her petite frame and a big white hat with light blue ruffles and a gold and brown under and center piece sat on her head.

The woman who had entered the room stood a few feet away from the bed the goddess was sitting on, "…Raising your voice like that… Rather shameful for a goddess to have such barbaric manners, Lady White Heart."

Lady White Heart maintained an emotionless façade, "…Conversation. You were here? …An Evangelist's job is to propagate beliefs regarding me to other lands, right?"

"Well, you need to support my teachings by acting like a goddess, otherwise…"

Evidently, Lady White Heart was not given anywhere near enough time to cool down after having to deal with Neptune, and Conversation was only pushing her buttons, "Ugh, this is so annoying…! Did you just come back here to lecture me, you pasty old hag?! Why d'you think I promoted you from Chamberlain to Evangelist? Get a freakin' clue! Stop breathing down my damn neck!"

"…I can't do that until you stop having your little violent, childish tantrums. Oops, was that inappropriate? Forgive me. Nevertheless, people won't follow a goddess to simply receive protection. You must…"

The CPU squeezed her fists until her knuckles turned white, "I-I know, geez! I get it, okay? There are more and more causalities from monsters. It's a huge thorn in my ass."

"You shouldn't be so frank, even with me. A goddess' leadership and style will affect their land as well… You can only improve those by improving your level of self-control."

The goddess of Lowee had her eyes closed, a vain popping up on her left hand as she contained her anger, "And here I am staying quiet like you asked…! I swallow most of my words so I don't just spit them out."

"…Still, your occasional outbursts are unacceptable as a goddess. You know that, right?"

A vain now popping up on Lady White Heart's right hand as she reluctantly listened to Conversation, "Oh, don't worry, I'm fully aware I'm so very not goddess-like and bratty. …Urrrgh! I'm SO pissed!"

"I'll be gone for a while again, but make sure you watch your attitude as Lady White Heart."

The now very angry White Heart started shouting at the Evangelist after she let herself out of the room, "Yeah, okay, bye! Excuse my shitty language! Don't ever come back!"

Lady White Heart started pacing around the room, "…Shit! Shit! Shit! SHIT! I'm beyond pissed right now! First I have to deal with that dumbass Neptune, and then I had to listen to that old bitch lecture me?! This has to be the shittiest day of my life!"

As she continued to vent her pent up anger, the goddess tried to think of something, anything that would help her anger subside. She stopped when she settled on a particular individual, "…I'll give Financier this one, that Heero guy was rather easy on the eyes. But what the hell is someone like him doing with Neptune? …Knowing her, she tricked him into going along with her."

Once she was sure she had released most of her anger, Lady White Heart plopped down on her bed and picked up the book she had been reading before having to deal with Neptune and her party, and the Evangelist Conversation, "…Now, where was I?"

Xxx

Me: (Sitting on the ground with arms around legs)

Black Heart: (Watching the Author silently)

Neptune: (Barges into the 'After Chapter Chat Corner') "Hey there, Author! How's it- *Gasp* It's the chick with the plug suit who keeps coming after Heero!"

IF and Compa: (Run into 'After Chapter Chat Corner') "So, you've finally decided to use the Chat Corner for your attempts to steal Heero, huh?"

Black Heart: (Starts blushing) "N-No I'm not! I just came to ask the Author about the story and I found him like this!"

Heero: (Walks into 'After Chapter Chat Corner') "The Author is more than likely suffering from some sort of writers' related condition."

Neptune, Compa and IF: (See a dark cloud looming over the Author) "H-Hey… you feelin' alright?

Me: "No… I'm not alright… I'm anything but. It has been more than two weeks since my last update… I don't deserve to call myself an Author! Don't look at me!"

Neptune: (Pulls a lollipop out of her hoodie pocket and shoves it into the Author's mouth) "Cheer Author man! You're the only one who can make this story work and give me and Heero our M Rated scene!"

Me: (Touched my Neptune's words, and suddenly stands up) "あなたの権利！私は今、停止することはできません！ていない読者が継続されると懇願するこの物語の続きを読むにはそこに死んでいる時！" Translation: "(Your right! I can't stop now! Not when there are readers dying to read more of this story that begs to be continued!)"

Heero, Neptune, Compa, IF and Black Heart: (Stare at Author) "What?"

Me: (Scratches the back of his head and gives a timid smile) "Sorry, whenever I get really serious I have a tendency to speak in Japanese."

Neptune: (Has a gleam in her eyes) "Whoa… that's so cool! Do we get to speak in Japanese, too?"

Me: "I'm debating on it. Right now I am faced with the dilemma of getting new updates to the story while working on the Valentine's Day Special."

IF: "So we're getting another bonus chapter?"

Me: "Yep. I've started posted another poll on my user page that will affect certain parts of future chapters, depending how the results come out. I'm also debating whetheror not to include elements of Fate Stay Night into the story, like givinng Heero UBW and explaining how he can us it."

Neptune: (Inclines her head) "UBW? What's that? I betcha it's something super cool if Heero's getting it!"

Me: "Yes, it is cool. But that's all I'm going to tell you." (Points at Heero) "Heero, my good man! Wrap up this little After Chapter Chat Corner of ours!"

Heero: "…Review this story, or I'll kill you."

Me: "Oh great Heero, threaten them. They'll really want to read and review the story now. Anyway, let's take bow, people. I have to get to work on the next updates for the sake of the readers."

Me, Heero, Neptune, Compa, IF and Black Heart: (Bow, then run out of the 'After Chapter Chat Corner')


	11. Another Neptune Stalker!

Me: "Okay, after the unfortunate mishap of not getting a new update up for two f*#king weeks, I have begun to put forth a greater amount of effort of returning to my usual habit of putting up new updates to the story at a ridiculously fast rate, or so some of reviewers have told me I have done."

Heero: (Walks into 'Intro Corner') "So, we can safely assume that the time required for you to finish a new chapter for the story will be shorter than the previous update?"

Me: "Yep. I'm trying to put aside as much time as possible to work on the story, while simultaneously working on the Valentine's Day Special that I plan to add to the story on Valentine's Day."

Neptune: (Runs into the 'Intro Corner' and glompes Heero from behind) "Is there gonna be any romance in it for me and Heero? I mean, it IS a Valentine's Day Special and we ARE the main pairing."

Me: "Maybe… you'll have to read it like everyone else to find out. I also have to work in some romance for the others-"

Compa and IF: (Rush into 'Intro Corner') "You're not the main pairing, Nep-Nep! (Looks at Author) So you're going to pair us up with Heero? Yay! Isn't that great, Iffy?"

IF: (Averts her eyes) "Well, I suppose so. But I don't see why you're getting so worked up. It's probably going to be something mild."

Me: (Starts to grin) "Oh?"

IF: (Looks at Author (Me) suspiciously) "…What?"

Me: "You have no idea. Anyway, let's get this chapter underway, we can talk about the Valentine's Day Special later. Now, read the disclaimer everybody!"

Heero, Neptune, Compa and IF: "HeeroUzuki does not own Gundam Wing, Hyperdimension Neptunia, or anything related to either one."

Neptune: "By the way… what is Gundam Wing? Or Hyperdimension Neptunia? They sound super cool!"

Me: "…I will reveal that when this story reaches its final chapter. For now, just focus on doing your part."

Me, Heero, Neptune, Compa and IF: (Leave 'Intro Corner')

**Ch. 10 Another Neptune Stalker?!**

The party stayed at one of the Inns on the snow covered landmass, Lowee. Although they had Terraported only yesterday, the landmasses of Lastation and Lowee had already put considerable distance between one another and the Sky Harbor was closed until another landmass was close enough for the bridge to be used.

Heero and Compa were standing next to a bedridden Neptune, the purple haired preteen's cheeks were tinged a light red and small beads of sweat ran down her cheeks, "Compaaaaa, I'm feeling icky-sticky. Can you take my temperature and stuff?"

The pink haired nurse pulled a thermometer out of her small purse and stuck the small glass object into Neptune's mouth, "Oh, you may have a cold. It's because you never use the covers when you sleep. You should be more careful about that!"

Heero looked over at the trashcan located in the room near the kitchen, sticking out of the trashcan were pieces of tin foil with barbecue sauce stains, "I also attribute Neptune's sickness to the fact that she stayed out so late last night."

The purple haired preteen looked at her 'Destined Lover', "But I had to go out, Heero! There was a food shack that was selling the biggest drum sticks I'd ever seen."

Neptune's purple eyes gave off a bright gleam as she remembered the exact size of the drum sticks she had stayed up to get the previous night, "They were SO tasty, and they were as big as your head and mine put together, Heero. It's a good thing I bought two."

Heero stared at the bedridden preteen, she had stayed up and risked getting sick just for food, "…Was it really worth risking your health?"

Neptune gave the Gundam Pilot a grin and a thumbs up, despite feeling slightly weak, "Totally. And I'd do it again… if I wasn't feeling all icky-sticky."

Compa turned in the direction of the kitchen, "Hold on a minute and I'll make you some good medicine."

As Compa walked into the kitchen, Neptune began to pull on the sleeve of Heero's jacket, "What I need right now is the tender loving care of Destined Lover. Why don't you get in bed with me, Heero? I'll scoot over and we can kiss and make out and do the thing like real lovers! It'll be our M rated scene."

"But you are sick, and are in no condition to be engaging in physical activity of any kind."

Neptune had already started making room on the bed for the teenager, "I'm fine. Nothin' to worry about. So c'mon, lover."

"I cannot-"

Before Heero could finish, Neptune gave the Perfect Soldier her 'puppy dog eyes' look, "C'mon Heero, please?"

Heero could not understand why, but he felt guilty as he looked into the preteen's eyes. The Gundam pilot mentally sighed in defeat, "…Very well, however we will not be engaging in any sexual contact."

Heero began to liedown on the bed next to Neptune, who wrapped her arms around Heero's torso and locked her legs with Heero's right leg, "Pffft. You say that, but I know you'll warm up to the idea, Heero."

"(…Why am I doing this? I should be preparing myself for any tasks we may have to carry out.)"

Heero was left with no choice but to lie there on the bed in Neptune's tight embrace while waiting for Compa to make some medicine for her cold.

When Compa came back she gave the cold medicine to Neptune, though her cheeks were slightly red and puffy, most likely because of Heero and Neptune's position on the bed. After what felt like hours, Neptune began to pout after Compa administered the medicine, "Are ya done yet?"

The nurse-in-training watched Neptune for a moment before looking back down at the medicine she was holding, "Huh? Why…? It's not working…"

IF walked over to the group, smiling for some reason, "Let me handle this. Sometimes, beginners luck works. (Besides, Heero will see how useful I am and that will make it easier for him to see that I'M the obvious choice, especially when I'm compared to these two.)"

Compa began to throw a fit, "No! I want to help Nep-Nep! (Besides, Heero will see just how good of a nurse I am, then it won't be that hard for him to see that I'm the only one for him, since Nep-Nep and Iffy aren't as good at healing as I am.)"

IF was irked, but she kept it to herself as she maintained her smile, "But you're not doing it right… Come on… (Damnit, just hand it over already! You're making it harder for me to get Heero's attention!)"

The door to the party's room suddenly swung open and on the other side of the doorway stood a little girl. The little girl had bright chocolate brown eyes, short hair that framed her face and was almost the same color brown as her eyes, and her most noticeable feature was her giant white rabbit cap.

She wore a light blue dress with princess-puff sleeves and ruffled lining. Around the bottom of her dress was a big brown segment with light brown lining and dark brown marks and around her neckline was what looked like a belt or a collar with a gold buckle. On the front of her dress around her stomach was a BIG pocket that looked as though it could pass for a kangaroo patch considering that it was able to hold a glass bottle and reagents, and above the pocket were two gold buttons. She also wore plain brown boots and white rabbit themed gloves.

The girl stood in the door, the expression on her face suggested that she found it painful to look at Compa and IF, "I can't watch any longer! Let Gust take care of it!"

Compa looked over at the doorway, not expecting anyone to enter the room, "Huh? Wh-Who're…?"

The young girl gave a small smile, "I am Gust."

Gust walked over to the bed that was occupied by a sick Neptune and Heero was had been reduced to a body pillow. The little girl took the two bottles out of Compa's hand, along with the vial containing finely ground powder, "Mix Potion A and Potion B, then add powder."

Heero watched Gust mix the… strange concoction in her hands, his attention was mostly focused on the powder. Heero turned his gaze on Neptune, who wore a slightly tired look on her face as she draped herself on top of Heero, "Neptune, I apologize for what I'm about to do."

"…Huh? Wha'?"

Heero had flipped himself over so he was on top of Neptune and pulled the thick blanket over himself and Neptune, the aforementioned preteen was now lying on her back, looking straight up at Heero as her face started to turn red, "Wh-What?"

Just as Heero had positioned himself over Neptune, a small explosion sounded off in the room. Compa's eyes widened and she let out a small shriek as a bright light filled the bottle in Gust's hands after the explosion subsided, a puff of smoke escaped from the lid of the glass container, "Agh!"

IF had took cover behind the bed Heero and Neptune were currently occupying, "…I'm glad I stood back. What was that minor explosion? Is it done?"

Gust looked at the bottle for a moment, simply staring at it, "…Synthesis failure."

The little girl set the bottle down on a nearby table, then turned to Compa and IF with a timid smile, "Explosion is reaction caused by old ingredients."

A look of confidence made its way onto Gust's face, "Wait here. Gust make good medicine using her own ingredients."

Gust reached into her pocket and pulled out a glass bottle and some synthesis reagents. Gust was silent as she worked, concentrating solely on the synthesis ingredients in her hands. A smile made its way onto the young girl's face when she was finished mixing the ingredients, "…There."

Gust held the bottle out to Compa, the nurse-in-training smiled at the young girl in turn, grateful that she had made some medicine for the sick Neptune, "Thank you."

Compa saw that Gust still had her hand out, "Um… what's this? Do you want me to shake your hand?"

Gust's eyes began to gleam, Compa thought she could see money signs in the little girl's eyes, "For ingredients and labor."

Compa looked at Gust in disbelief, as just moments ago she was nice enough to make some medicine for Neptune, "What? You charge?!"

Gust just gave a sweet smile, "Oh yes. Valuable ingredients. I won't charge labor this time."

A small bead of sweat ran down IF cheeks, "…She must be pretty strict with money."

Compa let out a sigh as she reached into her purse for money to pay Gust, "This was an… unexpected expense."

"Oh, Heero!"

Compa, IF and Gust looked over at the bed to see a blanket covering its two occupants, but could tell that Neptune was the one talking, "If THIS is what you wanted, then you don't have to apologize! But if we're gonna be under here, we gotta strip. Me first!"

There was shuffling underneath the covers, then Compa and IF saw Neptune's hoodie fly out from under the blanket and land unceremoniously on the ground, then Neptune's white tank top, and then her striped panties.

Heero was now looking at a very exposed Neptune, the unknown strange sensation he felt since meeting the girls came rushing to the forefront of his thoughts, "Neptune… put your clothes back on."

There was more shuffling under the bed, as Neptune positioned herself on top of Heero, "What? Why? *Gasp* I get it, you want to strip first! Well, you could've told me. And since we're lovers, I'll help you."

"Neptune, let go of my jeans."

There was more shuffling on the bed as Heero tried to top Neptune from taking off his jeans, "Oh, come on, Heero. We can't have our M Rated scene if you still have your pants on!"

IF's eye started to twitch at the mentioning of 'M Rated scene' and Neptune getting her hands on Heero's jeans. The brunette grabbed ahold of the blanket draped over Heero and Neptune, "Alright just what are yo-"

When IF pulled the blanket off of the bed, her face turned a deep shade of crimson from what she saw. Not because of embarrassment, but from anger. Neptune was straddling Heero and one of her hands was under his tank top, while the other was trying to unbutton his jeans.

Neptune immediately buried her face into Heero's chest, her face turning bright red from embarrassment, "Ahhh! Heero! Iffy's being a big pervert! She must be tryin' to watch us have our M Rated scene!"

IF began to gnash her teeth and veins started to become visible on her hands and on the side of her neck, "(What the hell is this?! Now even Neptune has gotten farther with Heero than I have!) Why would I want to watch you do something so inappropriate with Heero?! Besides, I sincerely doubt that he's a cradle robber!"

Neptune's cheeks were starting to get puffy, "You calling me a kid, Iffy? I betcha you're just jealous that Heero is mine and we were about to do the thing."

The purple haired preteen wrapped her arms around Heero's torso, "Heero is MY Destined Lover, so I'm gonna have an M Rated scene with Heero before you! Not that I'm ever gonna let you have one with him!"

The Gundam pilot could feel Neptune's breasts against his chest through his tank top. While they were small, they were still remarkably soft, which only increased the intensity of the sensation he was feeling.

While Neptune and IF started arguing about having an M Rated scene with Heero again, Gust was sizing up Heero, a bright gleam in her eyes, "…Or, you can let Gust burrow your friend."

Neptune and IF stopped arguing to look at Gust, while Compa dropped her purse and gave the little girl and incredulous look, "G-Give you Heero?!"

"He looks strong and durable, and Gust wishes to test some new experimental potions."

Neptune picked up her clothed and slipped them back on, while a feeling of dread came over IF, "Great… so it's either we pay her for the ingredients, or we give her Heero as a guinea pig for her experiments."

Neptune climbed back into bed, suddenly feeling weak again from being sick, while Compa and IF exchanged glances. The answer was obvious, "…We'll pay her."

Xxx

After paying Gust for the rare reagents she used for Neptune's medicine, the party sat around the room, and Compa was striking up a conversation with the young traveler, "So you're traveling alone while selling items you synthesize?"

The pink haired nurse gave Gust one of her beaming smiles, "You're so young but such a hard worker. I'm one impressed nurse-in-training."

Gust's cheeks turned a light pink color from Compa's flattery, "Heh. You flatter."

The hard working little girl's eyes exhibited a glow like when she charged the party for the medicine for Neptune's cold, "Tell Gust if any items needed. Gust will make for cheap."

Compa's own eyes began to glow at Gust kind gesture in the form of reduced prices for her synthesized items, "Really? Then, please tell us if you need any ingredients."

The nurse-in-training began to exude an air of confidence, "We'll go gather them for you."

Gust seemed to be happy with Compa's proposal, "You will? Gathering is challenge. That is wonderful!"

Heero looked at Compa's face and she looked as though she was about to squeal, "Gust, you're our friend now."

The Perfect Soldier looked over at Gust, and even she looked like she was going to squeal at any moment, "Yes. Friends!"

IF was sitting next to Heero a smile on her face that carried a tinge of uncertainty, "They seem to be getting along."

The brunette scanned the room, as if she was looking for something… or someone, "I haven't seen Nep in a while. Did any of you let her off her leash or something?"

Compa looked over at the bed closest to the window to see a ball like shape underneath the blanket, "She's in a deep sleep after taking the medicine."

IF looked over at the bed occupied by Neptune, slightly surprised that the medicine was strong enough to put down the party's energetic preteen leader, "No wonder it's so peaceful."

Gust began to make her way towards the door, "Gust must go now. Must find more ingredients for items."

As soon as Gust left the room, the party turned their attention to Neptune, who was snoring and talking in her sleep, "…I want the chocolate cake… Yeah, I'll take some cotton candy… mmm, drumsticks… and a big juicy burger… with extra bacon…"

IF and Compa stared at the sleeping preteen, "Even when she's asleep, the only thing Nep thinks about is food."

Neptune rolled onto her side, a weird smile on her face, "Huh? ...You wanna have our… M Rated scene, Heero…? *Giggle* Okay… I'm ready for ya… you bad boy you…"

At this point, Heero started to give the preteen a questioning look, "…Or she is thinking about getting me to engage in this 'M Rated scene' with her."

Compa held a hand close to her mouth as she let out a small yawn, "I'm a little tired. I think I'm going to sleep."

IF looked over at the beds that lined the wall near the window. There were only two beds with mattresses, while there the third was only the bare supports, "We still need replacement mattresses for the ones Nep destroyed last night. We'll just have to share the two beds."

Compa began to walk towards the bed occupied by Neptune in a slightly uncoordinated manner, "I'll sleep with Nep-Nep."

The nurse-in-training almost immediately fell asleep when she crashed onto the bed. IF watched the two sleeping girls, then came to a sudden realization, "(Wait… if Compa and Nep are sharing that bed, then…)"

The brunette swallowed hard, her cheeks slowly turning red. She turned her head to look at Heero, only to find the Gundam pilot walking towards the door, "Where are you going?"

Heero looked over his shoulder at IF, "To gather information… if there is any reliable information to be obtained, it would be best to acquire it now."

Heero was had just placed his hand on the doorknob, when IF's hand suddenly took ahold of it, "W-Wait!"

Heero looked back at IF, "What is it? If you have something you wish to say, say it now."

IF was looking deep into Heero's Prussian blue eyes, when she finally snapped out of her daze, IF realized that she had been staring at Heero and looked down to hide her now red face… only to notice where her hand was, then turned around so her back was to Heero, "Uh… W-Well… I-I was just going to say th-that… you could share the second bed with… M-Me. B-Besides, you need to get some sleep, otherwise you won't be at your best and that could… affect the mission! (That should do it.)"

Heero stopped and let IF's words sink in, "(She does make a valid point. If I do not get any sleep my combat performance will suffer, and that could jeopardize my mission.)"

The Perfect Soldier took his hand off the doorknob and faced IF, "I apologize for the inconvenience."

IF shook her head, "I-It's alright. I-I-I mean we're a party after all, so we should get use to… this kind of thing. (Yes! It worked!)"

Heero made his way over to the second bed with IF, lying down on top of the bed after he took off his jacket. IF took off her blue jacket and set it down on top of one of the chairs in the kitchen before walking over to the bed occupied by Heero.

The Gundam pilot was looking up at the ceiling in contemplation as IF looked at him, "…Something wrong?"

Heero shifted his gaze to IF before closing his eyes, "It is nothing of grave importance, though I am curious as to whether or not you are comfortable sharing a bed with another."

The brunette averted her gaze from Heero, "Well, it's not like I'm completely against it or anything… I just don't want the person I'm… sleeping with to kick or push me out of bed in the middle of the night, that's all."

IF lied down on the edge of the bed, which Heero immediately took notice of, "…You realize that you are sleeping on the edge of the bed, correct? The probably that you will roll over and fall are quite high."

IF kept her back to Heero, "I-I'm just trying to mind your personal space, Heero."

Mind his personal space? If anything, it seemed that IF was being too mindful. Heero slid one arm around IF's waist and pulled the brunette towards himself.

IF had been taken completely by surprise, her legs were locked with Heero's and her face was in the crook of his neck between his head and collar bone. The brunette began to stammer as her face changed to a tomato red color, "H-H-Heero! Wh-Wh-What are you doing?!"

"You said that you did not mind sharing a sleeping space, so long as the other individual you are with does not awaken you from your sleep. You would have woken yourself up if you had slept on the edge of the bed like that."

IF tried to think of what she was supposed to do in her current situation, but her mind pulled up a blank. As she was busy thinking, Neptune suddenly sat up, "Rival senses… tingling!"

The purple haired preteen's eyes darted around the room, "Somebody's tryin' to steal my Destined Lover!"

Neptune's eyes fell on IF, who had a look of contentment on her face as she lay on top of Heero, "IFFY! I won't let you steal my Destined Lover!"

IF was snapped out of her reverie of thought when she heard Neptune shouting at her. When she looked up, Neptune had jumped off her bed and landed on the bed that she and Heero were sleeping on.

Neptune's cheeks were red and puffy as she looked at the brunette, "Where's your jacket, Iffy? *Gasp* I know what it is your doing! You're trying to get Heero in the mood for an Adult Rated scene! Jerk! Traitor! Adult Rated scene stealer! Well, two can play at that game!"

Neptune quickly took off her hoodie, tossed it aside, and threw her arms around Heero, "C'mon, Heero! Let's have our M Rated scene now, so we can go right into our Adult Rated scene after we're done!"

Compa had woken up due to Neptune's shouting, when she saw Neptune and IF in bed with Heero, the nurse-in-training got out of bed and stomped over to the remaining free space on the bed, "Nep-Nep, Iffy, I can't believe you two would try to steal Heero while I was asleep. I should have known better!"

IF was finally able to sort out everything that had transpired between the time that Heero had pulled her in close, to now. IF violently shook her head as her cheeks began to burn, "No one is trying to steal anybody! (Damnit! This was supposed to be my alone time with Heero!)"

Compa took her wool top off, revealing the bra she was wearing underneath, "Three can play at that game!"

The pink haired nurse climbed onto the two mattress bed and pulled Heero's arm into her breasts. The Perfect Soldier immediately felt Compa's soft, plush skin against his arm, and with Neptune constantly rubbing herself against him while arguing with IF about how she would be the one to have an M Rated scene with him, the abnormal sensation was upon the teenaged soldier.

When Heero tried to move his hands, Compa and IF gave a small shriek. It seemed that in her argument with Neptune, IF had tightly wrapped her arms around Heero's left arm and slowly moved it down towards her… legs. Whether or not this was intentional, Heero did not know, but he did know that this would undoubtedly spark a new topic for the girls to argue about.

IF closed her legs after Heero had accidently stroked her… unmentionable area, "Wh-Wh-What were you d-d-doing Heero?! (…Do it again!)"

Compa closed her legs too, only she had trapped Heero's hand in-between them, "I-I didn't know… you want me that badly Heero…"

Neptune looked between IF and Compa before focusing her attention on Heero, "That's not fair! You gotta touch me now, Heero!"

Heero's eye noticeably twitched, "…It is going to be very difficult for me to get any sleep at this point."

Xxx

After their two hours of down time, the party went back to Entremets to ask about the locations of dungeons that were inhabited by strong monsters.

When they asked for a map, it was no surprise that Financier was the one to greet the party and provide them with what they required, "These are all our monster-infested dungeons. Are you sure you'll be fine? They're very formidable."

Neptune put her hands on her hips and gave the Basilicom employee a confident smile, "Yep, no worries. This is how we like it! Nothing's gonna stand a chance against all three of us lovely ladies!"

Immediately after telling Financier that they would be fine, Neptune threw her arms around Heero, "Besides, I've got my super strong, super smart, super hot and nice bodyguard/Destined Lover! There's no monster that can beat us!"

"While I will acknowledge the fact that I am your bodyguard, we are not lovers."

The energetic preteen jumped onto Heero and began to nuzzle his cheek with her own, "He's just embarrassed. We're totally made for each other."

Financier was slightly uncertain, "Overly confident people like you tend to trigger death flags pretty quick. However, you seem like you're okay with it."

Neptune merely waved off the comment, "Oh, pshh! Death flag! I'll snap it in half and toss it in the recycle bin, because I'm environmentally conscious!"

"A recycle bin, eh? How modern of you. Anyhow, good luck monster hunting."

Heero tried to pry the energetic Neptune off of him, though not only had she wrapped her arms and legs around him, she had a very strong grip, "Neptune. Let go of me."

Heero's attempt to dislodge Neptune from his person only prompted her to hold on tighter as she displayed her affections for the Gundam pilot in the form of nuzzling cheeks, "No way. When you say to let go, it only makes me want to hold on tighter!"

"…Neptune. Don't let go."

The preteen's smile grew, "Don't worry about that, Heero. I have no intention of letting go."

Heero noticeably winced. So it didn't matter if he asked or not, Neptune was not going to let go either way? As Neptune continued to nuzzle Heero, a woman approached the party, "…Pardon me, you there. I heard you talking about monster hunting. Have you heard of Overlord Momus?"

The party turned in the direction of the individual who had just asked them the question, the person in question turned out to be Lady White Heart's Evangelist.

Compa inclined her head at the question, "An Overlord…? Hmm, maybe we've heard of that a few times."

Heero glanced at the pink haired nurse while trying to pry Neptune off, though having no success, "Remember the Heretic from Lastation?"

IF folded her arms over her chest, "You mean that old man in the cave who acted like he was doing drugs? If you ask me, I think he's got a few screws loose."

The Evangelist continued, "As I thought. These monsters are Overlord Momus' loyal vassals. You will face judgment if you defeat them."

Compa blinked at the Evangelist a few times, "So… you're telling us not to fight them? I don't know if we can manage that!"

"That's unfortunate. You must think you're saving this world by fighting them… This world is already hopeless. As a servant to a goddess, I should never utter such things. However, even the goddesses are not absolute. Your efforts will go to waste. You're all still young. Don't risk your lives doing this."

Compa shook her head as the Evangelist told the party not to fight the monsters, "Wh-Why are you saying all this to us?! We're trying to do more than sit and wait! We could probably beat that Overlord, too!"

"…Impossible. The Overlord is so strong, even the original goddess was barely able to seal him away. The current goddesses had no choice but to escape to this world and get away from danger. All of the goddesses, except one, came down to their lands at once. That should be enough proof. They stood no chance against the Overlord, ran away, and let Celestia get ravaged."

The Evangelist paused for a brief moment before continuing her long winded speech about Overlord Momus, "Besides, I saw it myself. The messenger's punishment by the Overlord's hand. You, too, will eventually…"

Neptune assumed her thinking position while still maintaining a strong grip on Heero, "I betcha that messenger was like mid-boss level. We can't save the world if we're scared of a weakling like that!"

IF had been checking her cell phone since she did not want to listen to the Evangelist rave about 'Momus' and the 'Messenger', "Yeah, but thanks for story time. How could an Overlord like that really exist? You have to stop playing RPGs so much."

Heero had been glaring at the Evangelist from the moment she walked away from the party after delivering her piece. Because she was almost right in Heero's face, Neptune was able to see the Perfect Soldier glaring at the front door of the Basilicom, "What's wrong, lover? Did she make you mad when she said not to fight the monsters? I know she made me one unhappy Neptune."

"…I do not trust her words. Or rather, I don't trust her."

IF cocked an eyebrow at the lone male party member, "Don't trust her? Sure, she comes off as being shady, but is that reason enough to not trust her?"

"…You mean to tell me you do not see what is wrong with what she said, IF?"

The brunette inclined her head, "Aside from her spouting off about that whole 'Overlord' thing?"

Heero kept his eyes fixed on the door the Evangelist had passed through, "She is an Evangelist. She is supposed to spread the believes of Lady White Heart, yet her she is talking about this Overlord that is more powerful than her goddess. Another thing to note, she talked about the goddesses coming down to this world, except for one. How would she know this? Also, she claimed to have seen the 'Overlord's' power. If that is true, how is it that she is still alive? If this Overlord Momus created these monsters, one can assume that he would eliminate any human he came across."

Neptune positioned herself in front of Heero, her face only a few millimeters away from his, "So, what you're saying is that she knows more than she's supposed to for her job?"

Heero was actually surprised that Neptune had figured out what he was trying to tell the girls, even before IF, "I am surprised that you have found out already. Yes, she knows too much to be a mere Evangelist. And the fact that she said that this world is already beyond hope makes me suspicious as to what it is she's really doing here, as it is clearly not to spread the believes of Lady White Heart."

Compa looked at Heero in slight disbelief, "Not spreading her goddess' believes? Shouldn't we report this to the Basilicom?"

The Perfect Soldier shook his head, "That would not be the best course of action. While we know she is not fulfilling her job as an Evangelist, we do not know what her real goal is. For now, we'll leave her to her own devices, though we will need to monitor her if we are to find out what her true intentions are here in Lowee."

Neptune let go of Heero and swallowed hard, "Heero is getting all serious. It's giving me goosebumps!"

Neptune bent over and pointed at her left butt cheek, "See? I'm even getting them right there! And I didn't think that was possible!"

IF slapped Neptune upside the back of her head, "Quit flashing Heero!"

"Ow! What was that for? Heero is my Destined Lover, he can look if he wants!"

Heero pinched the bridge of his nose, "(…I need some headache powder.) If you are finished, we should begin our search for the Key Fragment. Since we have a map to the locations of above average monsters, we start from the closest dungeon and work our way around the landmass, checking off each location once we have thoroughly searched it so we will not have to make any return trip."

Neptune held the map Financier gave the party out to Heero, "You get to hold onto the map, Heero, cause I don't want Iffy to lose it."

IF narrowed her eyes at the preteen,"I was going to say give the map to Heero because I didn't want YOU to lose it."

Compa moved to keep the peace between the two girls, "Nep-Nep, Iffy, please don't fight. Remember where we are. Besides, Heero has the map now, so we won't have to worry about losing it. (I was going to tell Heero to hold onto it myself, because I didn't want Nep-Nep OR Iffy to lose it.)"

Xxx

The party was heading towards a dungeon mentioned by Financier, White Heart's loyal chamberlain. The dungeon in question looked to be a tower, on the inside multiple stone support beams lined the long corridors of the structure.

Heero scanned the entrance for either monsters or the Key Fragment, though there was nothing to be found, "…I believe our target is further in the dungeon."

Neptune was playfully swinging the Mech Sword Armas around, "Then let's go beat up the boss and any monsters in our way. We might even find the Key Fragment!"

IF was looking at her cell phone as Neptune went on about finding the Key Fragment, "That's wishful thinking. There's no guarantee that it's going to be in this dungeon."

The party advanced into the structure to both defeat the boss and to possibly find the Key Fragment. The party did not advance far into the, as they were stopped by a monster as they neared a three-way path.

The monster in question looked like a Jyaki, though there were noticeable differences aside from its name, which was 'Yeti'. The 'fur coat' on its body was yellow, its long hair was a moss green color, and its legs were a slightly darker color.

The Yeti raised the club in its hand and brought it down with great force, though it was relatively slow so the party had no trouble dodging the attack. A small crater was left in the ground where the Yeti's club had fell, and Neptune stuck her tongue out at the monster, "You suck. There's no way you're ever gonna hit us."

The monster attempted to strike Neptune, though the attack did not have very much power behind it, so Heero was able to stop it with his GN Sword, "You can taunt it later, focus on defeating it."

Neptune held out the saber in her hands, "You got it, lover!"

The preteen quickly cut off the 'Yeti's' arm that Heero had stopped, while IF and Compa had circled around to the monster blind side, "…She really needs to focus more on the battle."

Compa stabbed the monster with her syringe, while IF swiftly brought her Katars down into the 'Yeti's' back, leaving an X shaped mark. Heero slashed the large monster across its stomach as it was still reeling from the attack launched by the three girls.

The 'Yeti' fell to the ground, having breathed its last. Neptune held the Armas in the air, "Our party rules! And I've got the greatest bodyguard/Destined Lover to protect me."

"…We are not lovers."

Neptune tucked the beam saber back into her pocket, "You say that, but then why've you been so nice to me, Heero? You love me, and you know we're Destined Lovers!"

IF shook her head as Neptune went on about how Heero was her lover, "Save it for later. (I'm about to strangle you!)"

The party walked down the left path, which although long, would more than likely not lead straight to a dead-end. Neptune was humming to herself as the group followed the winding corridor, garnering the attention of IF, "…What are you so happy about?"

"This dungeon is gonna be a cakewalk cause we've got Heero. And I just know the Key Fragment is in this dungeon!"

Compa looked at Heero, who was walking next to her, "Heero is very reliable, but we can't make him do all the work."

IF looked back at the Perfect Soldier, "This is probably the only time I'm going to say this, but Compa's right. We wouldn't be much of a party if we left everything up to one member. And how can you be so sure that the Key Fragment is in here?"

Neptune's excitement was written all over her face, "My gut's telling me it's here!"

After a long walk through the dungeon's very long corridor, the party arrived at another three-way path. Neptune looked to her left, and then forward, "You guys wanna flip a coin?"

"Here's a better idea, why don't you and Compa check out the path ahead?"

Neptune pointed her finger in the direction IF told her and Compa to go, "All right let's- … wait a minute, why don't YOU go, Iffy?"

"Because you're the one who wants to know which way to go, and it's the best way to check for a dead-end."

Heero saw two monsters approach from the path in front of the party, and three more from the path on the left, "…We have company."

The trio of girls saw the five monsters heading for them; three of them were Rocs, while the other two were Vampire Bats. Neptune pulled out the Mech Sword once again, "Look pretty weak."

Having fought them before, Heero knew the attack pattern of the stubborn Rocs, and knew how to defeat them without incurring the same amount of damage like his first run in with the monster in Lastation, "Eliminating the target."

Neptune, Compa and IF went for the monsters along the left path, while Heero focused on the two Rocs straight ahead. One tried to rush the Gundam pilot, while the other readied its talons, Heero ducked under the first one, while the blade of the GN Sword III snapped back against the forearm to reveal the rifle barrel behind it, and fired three shots at the second large bird.

All three blasts of thermal energy struck the monster, knocking it off balance long enough for Heero to lob its head off with a single clan cut. After the first Roc was defeated, Heero immediately turned his attention on the second one, taking the time to briefly glance at the progress the girls were making.

Both Vampire Bats were lying flat on the ground with multiple cuts across their bodies, and the trio was focusing their attention on the Roc, "(Looks like I have nothing to worry about.)"

Heero returned his attention to the monster before him, which had charged at him once more, "I've been meaning to test this to make sure this sword is up to par with the original."

A pink glow coated the blade of the GN Sword, before turning into a long blade of beam energy. Because the Roc was approaching so fast, it had no time to stop or pull up, causing it to impale itself against the long saber blade.

The Roc had a spasm before it dropped dead onto the ground, "…Good. It is capable of th same functions as the original."

"Put me down!"

Heero looked up to see the Roc that Neptune, Compa and IF were supposed to be fighting, and it had the purple haired preteen in its talons. Neptune squirmed as she tried to break fre from the monsters grip, "My Destined Lover is gonna let you have it if you don't put me down!"

Heero mentally sighed as he watched the monster carry Neptune overhead, "…I should have known better."

The Perfect Soldier fired a shot from the GN Sword at the Roc, putting away his weapon after hearing a loud *Squawk*, and held his arms out. As if on cue, Neptune fell right into Heero's arms and wrapped her own around his neck, "Lover…"

"…Stop that."

Heero set Neptune down on her feet, while Compa checked Neptune's shoulders, "Are you alright, Nep-Nep? That monster grabbed you so suddenly, you may have an injury!"

Neptune wasn't as worried as the nurse-in-training, "I'm built pretty tough, besides Heero saved me before that monster could do anything."

Heero began to walk down the left path while IF watched, "Aren't we going to check the other way to make sure it isn't a dead-end?"

"There were more monsters coming from this direction, which means there is more room this way, and as such holds the greater probability of leading us to the target."

IF followed after Heero, and shortly after, Neptune and Compa caught up with them. The trek down the path eventually lead them to their target; a 'Hot Dog'.

Suffice it to say, the monster looked nothing like a dog, but an oversized wolf, only it had an reddish-orange fur coat instead of a dull, ash-grey coat. Neptune readied the Armas yet again, "Let's beat up that boss! It's gotta be guarding the Key Fragment."

Heero wanted to formulate a plan to defeat the target, but knew that Neptune was just going to charge straight in. Once the party had readied their weapons, they rushed the 'Hot Dog' in an attempt to catch it off guard.

Upon seeing the party, the monster ran straight for the member out in front… which of course was Neptune. Heero was able to close the distance between himself and the monster fast enough to keep Neptune from getting bitten by the people eating monster. Neptune tried to attack the 'Hot Dog' while its teeth were caught against Heero's GN Sword, but the monster seemed to be fairly intelligent, and dodged the preteen's attack.

Compa fired at the monster with her Syringe, but the 'Hot Dog' dodged the bullets the nurse-in-training fired at it while running right at her. Before its attack could connect, IF blocked the monsters claws with her Katars, "Monsters like this like to go for the healer, so the party has to fight on what strength they have left."

The brunette forced the 'Hot Dog' back, all four party members focused their attention on the target, "A monster with some level of intelligence and can fight back. This is getting interesting."

"I do not wish to waste any more time on dealing with the target. I have a plan I would like to recommend."

The party huddled together to listen to Heero's strategy on how they were going to defeat the 'Hot Dog'. When he was finished, Neptune pumped her arms, "Yeah… he won't know what hit 'em!"

IF was quite impressed with Heero's strategy, "It's pretty simple, but it sound effective."

Having decided to implement Heero's plan, the party lined up in single file formation with Heero in front, "On my mark… three… two…"

Heero bent his knees slightly so that when he made his move his initial speed would be higher than if he were to break into a run while standing straight up, "…Now!"

Heero ran straight for the 'Hot Dog', quickly closing the distance to the monster. The 'Hot Dog' readied itself for the imminent attack that Heero seemed ready to launch. Heero was right in front of the monster when he suddenly jumped out of the way. The monster had been so focused on Heero and what he would do, that it did not even bother to think about where Neptune, Compa and IF were.

Neptune cut the monster across the face with her beam saber, Compa stabbed it in the chest cavity with her syringe, and IF severed it's left front paw off with her Katars. Neptune ran right back at the monster, Heero had the beam projected over the blade of the GN Sword and impaled the wolf-like monster with it, before Neptune cut it in half with one final attack.

With the boss now defeated, the party was free to check the room the monster had been guarding, "C'mon! The Key Fragments gotta be in here!"

Neptune ran into the large room, followed by Compa, then IF, and finally Heero. The room was quite spacious with multiple support beams lining the walls. Compa looked around the room the 'Hot Dog had stood guard over, but found nothing, "That was the dungeon Ms. Chamberlain told us about, but of course we didn't find anything. Let's go ask again."

"…Hold it."

Th party turned around to see a girl standing in front of the entrance to the room, she had short, messy powder blue hair with a cowlick on top and very long bangs that almost reached down to her stomach. She had reddish-pink eyes and irises that looked like power button symbols, and she wore a white bodysuit that resembled a bathing suit with cut-off sleeves, with small marking on them in black and light blue colors.

Neptune stared at the mystery girl who had entered the room, "Whoa, sweet! Lowee has some totally tubular people! She kinda… doesn't… match this land's theme, though."

The blue haired girl focused her attention on Neptune, "…The outsiders can stay out of this. Neptune's all I need."

IF folded her arms over her chest, a questioning look on her face, "You're after Nep, too?! Geez, how does she attract stalkers? You can't make us go away that easily!"

Compa began to exude a rare air of confidence, "That's right. The four of us are as one. We're a party!"

Neptune pumped her arms, "Yep! Four as one. What now, eh? You still wanna fight?"

The mystery girl narrowed her eyes slightly, "…You're involving them? You've got no sense of… No, what you don't have are your memories. Neptune…!"

The blue haired girl brandished a large axe that looked too heavy for someone her size, yet she held it with relative easy. Neptune readied the Mech Sword Armas once more, "She wants to go? Then let's get her!"

"…Mission acknowledged. Eliminating."

Heero ran at the axe wielding girl with IF close behind. Heero swung his GN Sword at the blur haired girl, who in turn swung her axe at the Gundam pilot. Both weapons clashed for a brief moment before the mystery girl moved to dodge IF's attack, then went straight for tried to stop the axe wielder with her syringe, but the blue haired girl knocked Compa's weapon out of her hand and elbowed her in the stomach before continuing towards Neptune.

The moment she was close enough, the young girl wasted no time in swinging her axe at Neptune, both the axe and beam saber clashed, sparks flying in multiple directions. Unfortunately, the mystery girl put more force behind her weapon than Neptune put behind hers, forcing her back.

Neptune was trying her best to keep the young girl back, but her situation only seemed to get worst with each second. Neptune looked over the axe wielding girl at her party, "Heero! I need some help here!"

Pink streaks of beam weapon fire flew past the mystery girl, prompting her to look back to see Heero shooting at her, "…Damnit!"

The axe wielder moved away from Neptune to avoid being struck in the back by the bubbly preteen's bodyguard. After putting some distance between herself and Heero, the mystery girl quickly moved in on the Gundam pilot, her axe clashed with the GN Sword III causing sparks to fly wildly in every direction.

After a few seconds of being locked in a stalemate, both combatants forced each other back. The mystery girl kept her gaze fixed on Heero, "(…I knew this one would be the most difficult. The other two are pushovers, but I'll have to work to beat this one.)"

"Transform!"

The young girl grit her teeth as she saw Neptune transform a short distance behind Heero, "…I should have gone after Neptune before she transformed."

The now transformed Neptune shot past Heero and launched a flurry of attacks at the axe wielder, who was just barely able to keep up with the twin braided swordstress, "I'll give you credit for lasting this long, but you have no chance of victory now."

Neptune bought her sword down with enough force to make a crater in the ground, knocking the axe wielding girl off balance. Neptune's sword made contact with the blue haired girl's torso, launching her half-way across the room and straight towards Compa and IF, "Don't screw this up, Compa!"

"R-Right! Here goes!"

Compa and IF spun around one hundred-eighty degrees, IF's left leg shot out while Compa's right flew the air, both girls delivered a painful kick to the blue haired girl's stomach. The double attack was powerful enough to sent the mystery girl flying back across the room and straight towards Heero, "It's all you Heero!"

"Roger."

The blade of the GN Sword on Heero's right arm was enveloped by the longer beam saber blade he had just started using. The blue haired girl saw Heero preparing to finish her with the GN Sword in its beam saber mode, "…Like hell am I going down!"

The mystery girl tried to stop herself in mid-flight by thrusting the long shaft of her axe into the ground. The idea was successful… for two seconds, the shaft would have stopped her, but it had struck unstable ground and instead launched her towards Heero with even greater speed than she was already moving at.

The increase in speed left Heero with no time to react as all he saw in his peripheral vision was white. The blue haired girl slowly lifted herself up off the ground, "…Shit, that hurt!"

When she tried to move her legs, the blue haired girl found that she could not move them. When she looked down, her cheeks began to burn. The reason why the girl was unable to move was because her legs were trapped behind Heero's back, the perfect soldier's face was in-between the blue haired girl's legs and was having slight difficulty in getting up since she was sitting on him.

The girl in white was very embarrassed and very angry, she began to lift her right arm to hit Heero, who could do nothing but stare at the girl from in-between her legs, "…Bastard! Son of a bitch! Dumb as shit pervert!"

The blue haired girl's fist flew through the air, but was caught in mid-flight. The mystery girl saw a purple and black armored hand around her wrist and looked back to see Neptune standing behind her.

Neptune yanked the young girl up, giving the blue haired girl an ice cold glare as she looked at her, "…So you're here to try and steal Heero from me? This is the second time some random stalker has come after me, and tried to steal Heero."

The blue haired girl squirmed and struggled to free her arm, but Neptune strengthened her grip, gritting her teeth at the young girl as she stuck her sword into the ground, "…I'll teach you to seduce my man!"

Neptune's fist connected with the axe wielder's stomach four to five times before grabbing her sword and striking the young girl in the torso, sending her into a wall.

Before the blue haired girl had a chance to recover, Neptune had already grabbed her once again, pulled her out of the crater in the wall, and delivered yet another bone crushing blow to her torso with her sword, this time sending her into the middle of the room.

The axe wielding girl picked up her slightly bruised body, "…What the hell?! How did she suddenly get so strong?!"

When the blue haired girl looked back where Neptune had been, the twin braided swordstress was gone, "…Where the hell did she go?!"

The mystery girl slowly looked up to see Neptune falling towards her, her futuristic katana held out in front of her, "No one steals my Destined Lover!"

The blue haired girl just stared at Neptune, even when her sword was right in front of her face, "…Destined… Lover…?"

Upon impact, dust was kicked up all over the room as bits of the floor were destroyed and tossed around. A large dust cloud filled the entire room, slowly clearing up as the battle had died down. Neptune emerged from the cloud of smoke, still prepared to fight it the stalker chose to continue.

When the majority of the cloud had dispersed, the aftermath of Neptune's attack could be seen; the entire floor of the room was cracked and broken, it may as well have been one big crater.

The blue haired girl picked herself up once again, covered in bruises and dirt, "…I screwed up? No. I haven't gotten my full powers back."

The young girl picked up her axe and turned in the direction of the entrance to the room, "…Bye."

Neptune looked over at the single entrance to the room that the mysterious axe wielding girl had passed through, "Why was she after me? I don't understand. I don't recall meeting her before."

Compa focused her attention on Neptune, "Well, you are an amnesiac. That Ms. Newtype might be an old acquaintance."

Heero raised a questioning eyebrow at Compa for a brief moment, "(Newtype? I have seen Newtypes in battle before, and that girl does not exhibit the same heightened sixth sense or combat abilities of a Newtype.)"

IF slipped her Katars back into the sleeves of her jacket, "Yeah, I wouldn't be shocked if you've pissed off a few people in the past before losing your memory."

The brunette folded her arms over her chest, "You were probably running away from that Newtype, got caught and then buried in the ground. Yeah, makes sense to me."

Compa inclined her head at IF, "What sort of people would do that? She was stuck in the ground like a spear. So, shouldn't they be satisfied now?"

The pink haired nurse's cheeks began to swell up, "It's very rude of her to keep holding a grudge. She's like… like… a Nep-Nep addict!"

Compa and IF looked over at the subject of their conversation, Neptune had rushed over to Heero, who had just picked himself up off the ground, "Are you alright, Heero? She wasn't successful in her attempt to seduce you, was she?"

"…Yes, I am fine. And no, she did not seduce me."

Compa's cheeks were swelling up even more and she began to flail her arms, "She's a Nep-Nep addict and a… Heero stealer! This makes two people who have tried to steal Heero from us! I am one very unhappy nurse-in-training!"

IF looked over at Heero, who was being examined by Neptune, "These Neptune stalker keep trying to seduce Heero… it makes me wonder how many stalkers Neptune has."

The overall result of the party's search of the dungeon was not what they had expected, they did not find the Key Fragment, they ran into a mysterious girl who seemed to know Neptune, and because of certain… events that transpired during the course of the battle, the blue haired girl was seen labeled as an obstacle by the trio of girls. One of two that was supposedly trying to steal Heero.

With nothing more to be gained from staying in the dungeon, the party began to make their way back to the entrance of the dungeon. Along the way, Neptune wrapped her arms around Heero's left arm, prompting the Gundam pilot to look at the beautiful swordstress, "May I ask just what you are doing?"

"I want to make it perfectly clear that you are my lover and I will not tolerate random stalker attempting to seduce you, Heero."

Compa suddenly took ahold Heero's right arm, "Nep-Nep! Heero is my lover, too!"

IF acted on impulse and threw her arms around Heero's torso, "Who said Heero belonged to you two? (If anything, Heero is mine.)"

Heero mentally sighed as the three girls continued to hold onto him as they made their way out of the dungeon, "…This is just perfect."

Xxx

Me: (Gives a small bow) "First, a small apology to all of you who enjoy reading my story. I had already loaded the updated to , I just forgot to add the new chapters to the story, which is why it says the story was updated on the 15th."

Neptune: (Walks into After Chapter Chat Corner) "So it isn't really your fault, you forgot to put them into the story."

Compa and IF: (Walk into the After Chapter Chat Corner) "At least you submitted the new updates, Mr. Author. I'm sure you felt better after they were in."

IF: "I take it that you're also working on the next story related chapter?"

Me: "うん！私はすぐに私がバレンタインデースペシャルで行われていたとしてそれに取り組むようになった." Translation: "(Yep! I got to work on it as soon as I was done with the Valentine's Day Special.)"

Heero: (Walks into After Chapter Chat Corner) "It may have required some time, however, you were able to add two chapters to the total number that the story has. You are to be commended for your efforts."

Me: (Rubs the back of his head) "Aww, don't say that. You're making blush."

Neptune: (Looks around room) "Hey, where's Gust and that chick that keeps trying to steal Heero?"

Me: "They had some work they had to do and couldn't make it." (Points at Compa) "Compa! If you would wrap this up for us."

Compa: (Gives small bow to readers) "Please read and review this chapter, thank you!"

Me: (Points to exit of ACCC) "Let us go comrade!"

Me, Heero, Neptune, Compa and IF: (Leave After Chapter Chat Corner)


	12. Bonus Chapter 2

Me: (Enters 'Intro Corner') "Well people, Valentine's Day is upon us. And you know what that means…"

Heero and Neptune: (Walk into 'Intro Corner') "What? What's it mean? Do you know, Heero?"

Heero: "Unfortunately, I do not know. However, I suspect that the Author will tell us."

Me: "You know it! Since its Valentine's Day, I'm making another Bonus Chapter! It won't relate to the story in any way, it will simply be my gift to our readers."

Compa: (Walks into 'Intro Corner') "You're giving this story to the readers for Valentine's Day? That's so thoughtful!"

Me: "Well, it will add more humor to our story. Plus, it gives me something to do."

IF: (Walks into 'Intro Corner') "So… since this is a Valentine's Day related Chapter, we can expect to see some romance, right?"

Me: (Has a big grin on his face) "You betcha! Now, as much as I would like to go on about this Bonus Chapter, I gotta introduce two more characters to the chapter, and then we've got to read off the disclaimer."

Black Heart: (Walk into 'Intro Corner' while looking at a small book in her hands) "Hey, so, I get to be in this Chapter-"

Neptune: (Points at Black Heart) "It's the chick with the plug suit who wants Heero! What's she doing here?!"

Black Heart: "I'm supposed to be part of this chapter, moron! And I think I now know why. I'm supposed to save He- I mean, I'm obviously supposed to beat you in this chapter!"

Me: "Alright, break it up you two. If you're gonna fight, at least give us time to sell tickets." (Points at Black Heart) "I brought her here to give this chapter a little more Comedy and Romance. To give this Chapter a little more 'Bang.'"

Neptune: (Folds her arms over her chest, her cheeks turn red and puff up) "Fine… but I don't like it."

IF: (Crosses her arms) "Okay, the chick who keeps trying to fight Neptune and who keeps trying to seduce Heero is one of the two. Who's the second?"

Black Heart: (Stops her foot) "I'm not trying to seduce Heero! (But… if he were to fall for me of his own free will…)"

Gust: (Runs into 'Intro Corner') "Gust apologizes for being late. Had to finish last minute preparations."

Me: "Does that answer your question? Alright people, let's stop wasting time." (Points to the cast) "Let's read off the Disclaimer and split, the readers are gonna wanna read this, and I have to work on more of the story."

Heero, Neptune, Compa, IF, Gust, and Black Heart: "HeeroUzuki does not own Mobile Suit Gundam, Hyperdimension Neptunia, or anything related to them."

Me: "The Disclaimer sounds cooler with more people saying it. Makes me wonder what it will sound like when we have the whole cast here to say it." (Begins to imagine Heero and the female cast of Hyperdimension Neptunia saying the Disclaimer and nods his head while grinning) "…Sweet. Now let's go people! We've got a chapter to roll."

Me, Heero, Neptune, Compa, IF, Gust, and Black Heart: (Run out of the 'Intro Corner')

**Bonus Chapter: Valentine's Day Special! Operation: Give Chocolates to Heero and get a Kiss in return! (And hopefully not come close to failing like we did with Operation: Get Heero under the Mistletoe!)**

It was another snowy day in Lowee… like every other day. The landmass seemed to receive snow twenty-four seven, or so Heero had gathered. The party had decided to take a break from searching for the Key Fragment and rest.

Neptune was standing in front of the calendar in the kitchen, staring at it silently. The door to the room swung open and both Compa and IF walk in with grocery bags in their hands, "You know, you could help us instead of just standing there like an idiot."

Neptune continued to stare at the calendar silently, which began to worry the pink haired nurse in front of IF, "Do you think something is wrong with Nep-Nep, Iffy?"

"When isn't there something wrong with her? She's an amnesiac with a black hole for a stomach, she thinks about food most of the time, and when she isn't thinking about food, she's thinking about doing the dirty deed with Heero. (…and that's MY job.)"

The purple haired preteen suddenly turned around to face Compa and IF, "Compa, Iffy, do you guys know what today is?"

Compa inclined her head at Neptune's question, "What's today? Umm… don't tell me… umm…"

IF rolled her eyes at Compa, "It's Valentine's Day."

Neptune's lips curved into a big grin, "Give the lady with the leafy bow a prize! It's Valentine's Day, and I've come up with a new plan to get a kiss from Heero!"

IF folded her arms in front of her chest and cocked an eyebrow at Neptune, "You've come up with a plan to kiss Heero? Why do I get the feeling that it's going to end in failure like our Operation: Get Heero under the Mistletoe?"

Neptune put her hands on her hips as her cheeks began to swell, "What are you talking about, Iffy? My last plan work, didn't it?"

"Technically, no. It was a total failure. We ran after Heero with mistletoe for an entire day, and didn't catch him once. The only time that they actually worked was when Heero came back to the room after giving us our Christmas presents the day AFTER."

Neptune waved off the comment, "My plan worked and you know it Iffy. This time, I know that my plan is foolproof!"

IF gave Neptune a questioning look, "…I find that difficult to believe, seeing as how the plan was thought up by a fool."

The door swung open once more, and Heero entered the room with his laptop under his arms. He took a seat at the table next to the window closest to the door, opened his laptop, and began to work on something.

Neptune looked between Compa and IF with a slightly panicked look, speaking in a low whisper, "(Don't say anything guys. Just walk out slowly, and I'll fill you in on my grandiose plan.)"

The trio of girls slowly made their way to the door, trying not to draw attention from Heero. Just when it looked as though they were free, the girls froze when they heard Heero's voice, "…Where are you three going?"

When Neptune, Compa and IF turned around, Heero was looking over his shoulder at them. The girls swallowed hard, Neptune did NOT want Heero to know what they were planning, "We're… going out to get some food!"

Heero quickly glanced at the grocery bags in the kitchen before turning his attention back on the girls, "…There is food in those grocery bags."

"Well… I want some good food, not the junk Compa and Iffy brought back."

IF shot a glare at the preteen, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Neptune grabbed Compa and IF by the arm and pulled them out of the room, "Later Heero!"

The door slammed shut, leaving Heero the sole occupant in the room. The Gundam pilot stood up and walked into the kitchen, examining the area the girls had been before leaving. Eventually, his eyes fell on the calendar, and Heero noticed what the date was, silently contemplating what he was going to do about during this particular day.

Xxx

Outside of the snowy landmass of Lowee, the Sky Harbor was functioning and connected to Lastation. A lone female figure stepped out of the bridge. The girl turned out to be Lady Black Heart, Lastation's own CPU.

Lady Black Heart was dressed a little more heavily for Lowee's cold weather, on top of her usual attire; the goddess wore a light, black jacket, a pair of blue and black mittens, and a black scarf with a red strip that went across the middle.

Black Heart scanned the snowy field before her with her crimson eyes, "…I think this is where Heero came after leaving Lastation."

Tucked underneath the goddess' arm was a red heart shaped box, carefully wrapped so that its contents would not fall out. Black Heart looked at the box for a moment, "I think these could use an… extra ingredient. Maybe Gust could provide that."

As she began to contemplate the 'extra ingredient', Black Heart slowly began to lull into a daydream.

Xxx

_Black Heart and Heero were lying in a bed, their clothes scattered around it, and the sounds of their moans and groans filled the air. Heero stopped what he was doing to look at Black Heart's face, "I hope I am not being too rough."_

_The raven haired CPU shook her head, though she was slightly disheveled, "N-Not at all… That was amazing, and you're so… Big."_

_Black Heart averted her gaze from the Gundam pilot as he kissed the side of her neck, "Heero… I… put Love Potion in the chocolate I gave you."_

_Heero looked into the CPU's eyes, "I know."_

"_Then… why did you…?"_

_Heero silenced Black Heart with a kiss, "I did not actually eat the chocolate. I do not need a Love Potion to make me love you, not when I already do."_

_Heero leaned closer to Black Heart, his face barely a few milimeters from the CPU's, "All I want for Valentine's Day is you, Black Heart..."_

"_H-Heero…"_

_Both teens slowly closed the distance between one another once again. Both Black Heart and Heero shared in a passionate kiss as everything went white around them._

Xxx

Black Heart was still standing in front of the Sky Harbor, her face was a very deep shade of crimson as steam rose out of her head. The CPU of Lastation shook her head, "I-I shouldn't be thinking about that!"

An irritated look suddenly made its way onto Black Heart's face, "More importantly, what in the world is Heero doing on this awful white rock? It's always cold, it snows every second of every day… the only reason I can think of is that Neptune dragged him here."

The CPU pulled on her scarf as she began to wade through the snow, her thoughts going back to the reason she had even bothered to come to Lowee, "I wonder if Heero will accept these…"

The raven haired teen shook her head once more, "What am I thinking? I-It's not like I'm giving them to him because I l-like him, so of course he'll take them!"

Xxx

Neptune, Compa and IF walked through the town that was filled with mushroom shaped buildings. Neptune was leading the way, which made IF a little uneasy, "Before we go any further, tell us how you intend to get Heero to kiss you this time, 'smart one.'"

The preteen turned around to face the brunette, a big grin on her face, "Well, as you guys know its Valentine's Day, girls give chocolate to guys they like in hopes of getting a hot kiss from them."

"…I've got a feeling I'm going to regret asking, but how exactly does that fit in with your plan to kiss Heero?"

Neptune's big grin was replaced with a sly, mischievous grin, "I've got one word for you, Iffy: Gust."

Compa inclined her head, "You mean the little girl who synthesizes items? How is she going to help?"

"She can make stuff that we can't, and she said she would make them cheap, so I'm gonna ask her to make a big bottle of Love Potion!"

IF's eye began to twitch, "…I knew this was going to be a stupid idea. A Love Potion, do you even know what you're talking about? What makes you so sure that she can make one?"

"But she's gotta make it, Iffy! If Gust can't make one, no one else can, and my whole plan is ruined! Deep down, I know you want her to make one, too."

IF averted her gaze from Neptune, "Well… maybe… but there's no guarantee that she can make a Love Potion."

Compa had a rather hopeful look on her face, "It wouldn't hurt to ask. It's like Nep-Nep said, if Gust can't make it, no one can."

Neptune clasped Compa's hands, "Thanks for believing me, Compa. You're a true friend."

The three girls continued down the street in their attempt to locate the item synthesizer Gust.

Xxx

After an hour of searching, Neptune, Compa and IF finally found Gust, she appeared to be talking to a teenaged girl with long black pigtails.

Neptune ran straight up to Gust as she talked to the raven haired girl, "Hiya, Gust! Listen I need to ask you an uber huge favor-"

The purple haired preteen stopped when she noticed who the girl was, "*Gasp* It's my Amnesiac Best Buddy! How've you been? Whatcha doing here?"

Black Heart cursed under her breath, "(Why is she here?! Of all the places she could be, why HERE?!)"

Neptune just smiled at the girl as she began to poke her cheek, "I was super sad when you left, but then Heero gave me a tasty chocolate cake to cheer me up. And I read your note, so you remember stuff now? How about you tell me your name!"

Black Heart flinched, "I… I don't remember my name, sorry."

"Bummer. Why don't yo-"

IF struck Neptune upside her head, and she wasn't nice about it, "It's nice to know you found you're buddy again, but don't forget why we're here."

"Don't worry Iffy, I haven't forgotten."

Compa poked her head out from behind IF, "We're just making sure, Nep-Nep. You do get sidetracked easily."

Black Heart watched the trio bicker, all while questioning what they needed to see Gust for, "(What is Neptune plotting? It can't be good.)"

Neptune focused her attention on Gust, "Anyway, Gust, we have an uber huge favor to ask you. We need you to whip us up a Love Potion!"

Gust had a stern look on her face, "You wish for Gust to make Love Potion…?"

IF gave the synthesizer a questioning look, "Is something wrong?"

Gust reached into the large pocket on the front of her dress and pulled out a pen and a piece of paper with words typed on it, "Gust will require you to sign this form, relieving Gust of all responsibility in the use of Love Potion."

Neptune swiped the pen from Gust, "No problem. That Love Potion is ours!"

Before Neptune could begin to sign the form, IF grabbed her by the wrist, prompting the preteen to look back at her, "Why're you stoppin' me, Iffy? We just gotta sign this thing, and Gust will give us a bonafide Love Potion!"

"Have you stopped to think about this for a minute? She's having us sign a form before she'll make the potion, something tells me that your plan can, and probably go horribly wrong."

Neptune's eyes began to burn with fiery determination, "But Iffy, we're getting this thing so we can make Heero go crazy for us! Wouldn't you brave any kind of danger if it meant you got to do the thing with Heero?"

The brunette stopped and allowed Neptune's words to sink in, slowly lulling into a daydream.

Xxx

_Heero and IF were lying on a bed underneath a very thick blanket, their clothes were strewn around the bed and IF was giggling every now and then as Heero kissed her neck down to her chest._

_The Perfect Soldier would stop from time to time to plant a kiss on the brunette's lips, "…I didn't know you to be such a bad boy, Heero."_

"_There is a lot you don't know about me, IF, but you will find out soon enough…"_

_Heero positioned himself of IF's entrance and thrust into the brunette, eliciting a loud shriek from her. IF's nail began to dig into Heero's back as he continued as he continued to thrust into her._

_IF's loud moans reverberated in Heero's ear, prompting him to thrust faster and harder, grunting and groaning the entire time, "…IF… I'm about to…!"_

"_Please… stay inside me…!"_

_After another minute of intense physical contact with the brunette, Heero's eyes snapped shut as he delivered one final thrust, eliciting a long drawn out moan from IF before everything went white, "HEERO!"_

Xxx

IF's face was completely red as blood began to trickle down her nose. The brunette pulled a tissue out of her jacket pocket and cleaned her nose, "…Fine."

Neptune knew that Compa had no objection to signing the piece of paper to get the Love Potion, and if she did, then it wasn't worth mentioning. Neptune's signature was a 'little' sloppy, but Gust excepted it anyway, "Give Gust a moment to mix ingredients."

As the synthesizer focused on mixing the reagents to make the Love Potion, Black Heart glared at the back of Neptune's head, "(Damnit! That was my idea! I was going to ask Gust for a Love Potion to use on Heero!)"

When Gust was finished, she held out a glass bottle to Neptune that contained a pink liquid, "Be very careful. Love Potion is very potent, very strong. It is recommended that you apply to something like chocolates."

Compa gave a polite bow to Gust, "Thank you very much, Gust. Nep-Nep, say-"

When the nurse-in-training looked over at Neptune, the preteen was already gone. IF and Compa looked behind to see Neptune was already a block away from them with the Love Potion still in her hands, "Get back here with that Love Potion!"

Before they could take off after the preteen, Compa and IF heard an *Ahem* behind them, Gust had her hand held out, "You still have to pay for ingredients."

IF grit her teeth as she pulled a small blue purse out of her pocket, "…Why do I have to pay for it?"

After paying Gust, Compa and IF took off after Neptune. The young synthesizer turned her attention to Black Heart, "Now then, what can Gust do for Lady Black Heart?"

The CPU of Lastation pushed her index fingers together, "Well…"

Black Heart spoke in a nearly inaudible voice, and Gust merely stared at the teen since she could not hear what she had just said, "Lady Black Heart, please speak up so Gust can hear your request."

Black Heart took a deep breath and exhaled, "I said I need you to make a Love Potion for me."

Gust gave Black Heart a blank stare, "…You also wish for Gust to make a Love Potion?"

The raven haired CPU's cheeks began to burn, "Wh-what of it? Are you going to make it or not?"

The synthesizer held out the pen and paper that she had given to Neptune to sign, "Please sign."

Black Heart signed the piece of paper, "Th-There… Now will you make it for me?"

Gust repeated the process for making the Love Potion, and when she was finished, handed it the bottle full of the pink liquid to Black Heart, "Love Potion is finished, be very careful."

The goddess of Lastation gingerly ran her fingers across the bottle, "(I just have to add this to the chocolate… and when Heero takes one bite, he'll…)"

After paying Gust for the ingredients and labor, Black Heart quickly left the park. Gust pulled a small calendar out of her pocket and checked the date, "…Today may bring good business to Gust."

Xxx

IF and Compa eventually arrived back at the inn after looking for Neptune, who still had the Love Potion in her possession, "Figures she would come straight back."

When IF and Compa opened the door, they spotted a transformed Neptune in the kitchen. She stood in front of the stove, was wearing an apron, and was humming to herself.

The twin braided swordstress looked over her shoulder, "…I was wondering when you two would get back."

"Where's the Love Potion?"

Neptune pulled the bottle containing the pink liquid out of the apron pocket, "…Right here. I've been wondering how much I should add to the chocolate mix."

Compa walked into kitchen and pulled a few pans out of the cupboard, "We'll each take a third of the bottle. That way we each have a fair portion."

IF grabbed the remaining pans out of the cupboard and put on an apron, "Just so you know, I'm in this to win."

Neptune's lips curved into a smirk , "Then let the best woman win. Though, I'm the only REAL woman here."

IF narrowed her eyes at the swordstress, "And just what do you have that we don't that makes you a 'real' woman?"

"Unlike you Iffy, I actually have boobs and an ass."

IF's mouth dropped, then she glared at Neptune, who returned a smirk, Neptune's remark was a hit blow the belt, "Wh-What's that supposed to mean?! I'm still growing!"

Compa inclined her head as IF argued with Neptune, "I'm wondering if this is really appropriate for the readers…"

Neptune turned around to focus on her chocolate mix, "I'm almost finished making my chocolate for Heero, now all I need is the extra ingredient."

The twin braided swordstress poured exactly one-third of the bottle's content into her chocolate mix, then began to stir it. As soon as she was finished, Neptune poured the chocolate batter onto a silver tray to shape the mix and slid it into the oven, "All I have to do now is wait."

Neptune stood in front of the stove while thinking about what would happen when Heero ate one of her chocolates.

Xxx

_Neptune was lying on her back in bed with Heero on top of her, their clothes lay scattered around the bed both teens were locked in a fierce lip lock. Heero pulled back to look at the beautiful woman beneath him, Neptune's cheeks slowly turned a dark red, "Are you enjoying this as much as I am, Heero?"_

_Heero came down to Neptune's neck and planted kiss along her skin, slowly working his way down her body. Neptune began to purr from Heero's slow kissing, letting out a small gasp when he nibbled on her collar._

_The Gundam pilot smirked when he reached Neptune's breasts, the swordstress was well-endowed with large, perfectly shaped breasts. Heero began to suck on one of Neptune's breasts while his hand played with the other._

_Neptune threw her had back as Heero played with her body, her fingers speared his errant bangs while moaning his name every few seconds, "Heero…"_

_After a few seconds, Heero came back up to Neptune's face to kiss her once again, "…Are you ready?"_

_Neptune rolled Heero onto his back and positioned herself on top of him, "As Ready as you are."_

_The swordstress slowly lowered herself onto the Gundam pilot, her moans filled the air as she proceeded to bounce up and down along Heero's erected member. Neptune wove her finger with Heero's as she continued to ride Heero, "It… It feels so good!"_

_Heero began to groan as the immense pleasure consumed his thoughts, "Neptune…!"_

_The swordstress quickly reached her limit and let out a loud moan as Heero released inside her, "HEERO!"_

Xxx

Neptune was brought back to reality when she heard a *ding*. She opened the stove and pulled the chocolate out so the small pieces of candy could cool, "Just one bite of these, and Heero won't be able to keep his hands off me."

IF's mouth dropped at the sight of the chocolate Neptune had made, even Compa was surprised, "No way… she can cook?!"

The tray was filled with perfect heart shaped chocolates, evenly spaced out so that they would not stick together. The chocolate did not require much time to cool off, and Neptune placed all of the small chocolates into a heart shaped box, "Well, have fun you two, I'm off to go find Heero… and a nice quite spot for us to be alone."

Neptune tossed her apron aside and left the room to search for Heero with her chocolate in hand, while IF were still in the process of making her own. IF began to stir her chocolate mix faster in anger, "I'm not about to lose to her!"

"Done!"

IF looked over at Compa to see her with a pan full of chocolates that varied in shapes and sizes, "I'm sure Heero will like these."

The nurse-in-training poured the chocolates into a box and promptly left, leaving IF as the only one who had not finished making her chocolate, "…This has to be some kind of joke… they're both done?!"

Outside of the room, Lady Black Heart peered into the room from one of the windows, "(Tch, Neptune's already on her way to find Heero.)"

The CPU of Lastation took ahold of an HDD disk and transformed into the white haired swordstress that had fought the party back on Lastation. The white haired teen quickly left to find Heero before Neptune or Compa.

Xxx

Heero was walking through the small town, studying its layout, when he saw Gust sitting on a park bench. The Gundam pilot approached the young girl as she took inventory of her ingredients, reagents, and other synthesis related items.

Gust looked up when she saw Heero standing in front of her, "Is there something Gust can do for Heero?"

"Actually there is."

Heero reached into his jacket pocket, pulled out a slip of paper, and handed it to Gust, "I need you to make these for me."

Gust looked at the small list, then at the Gundam pilot, "Does Heero require anything extra added to the order?"

"No. And there's a bonus if you can finish them quickly."

Gust's eyes were replaced with money signs, the word 'bonus' had definitely gotten her attention and gave her extra incentive to make the items on Heero's list, "Gust will make quick and good!"

Gust did indeed make the items Heero requested quickly… very quickly, it had not even been a whole thirty seconds and she was already holding four individually wrapped boxes, all of which were a different color. The little girl's quick and efficient work impressed the Perfect Soldier, "Do you need anything else?"

Hero shook his head, "No. Thank you for making these… 'items.'"

Heero paid the synthesizer, took the small boxes and left to take care of other business. Gust pulled her calendar out once more, along with a marker, and circled the date, "Valentine's Day good for business."

Gust checked the money that Heero had paid her to make sure the ingredients and labor was paid in full, "…Heero paid even more than he was supposed to. That's okay, Gust DID add extra ingredient to Heero's order."

Xxx

Neptune and Compa were searching for the lone male party member, wanting to give him their spiked chocolate that would make him fall in love with them, "…Where could he be?"

Compa scanned each individual building for Heero, "Maybe he's in one of the shops?"

"Hey!"

Neptune and Compa turned around to see IF standing behind them, breathing heavily from running, "…I take it that you actually made something for Heero?"

The brunette smirked at the swordstress as she held up a red box with a bow tied around it, "…I told you… *Pant* I'm in this… to win… *Wheeze*"

Compa immediately turned back around upon hearing a store bell ring, and saw Heero walking further down the street with a bag in his hand, "(This is my chance. I can give Heero my chocolate first, while Nep-Nep and Iffy are arguing.)"

The nurse-in-training began to sneak away from Neptune and IF, who were too busy arguing to notice Compa leave.

Compa was half way down the street when she saw Black Heart following the Gundam pilot with a heart shaped box in her hands that had 'To: Heero' written on it, "She must be trying to seduce Heero again! Not while this nurse-in-training is watching!"

Compa pulled out her syringe and ran straight at the mystery girl, "Haaa!"

Black Heart stopped and turned around in time to see Compa running straight for her, "What th-"

Just as Compa attacked her, Black Heart had tossed her box into the air and pulled out her large sword to block the syringe. After forcing the nurse back, she caught the heart shaped box containing her chocolates intended for Heero before they hit the ground, "What's your problem?!"

"You're trying to seduce Heero again!"

Black Heart averted her gaze from the nurse-in-training, her cheeks turning a light pink, "I-I don't know what you're talking about! I'm just giving these to Heero because… I-I couldn't think of anyone else to give them to!"

Compa's cheeks began to swell with anger, "I don't believe you! I'm giving Heero my chocolate first, and that's that!"

The swordstress narrowed her eyes at the pink haired nurse, "Yeah right! Over my dead body! You wouldn't even know what to do with him!"

Compa's cheeks began to burn, "Th-That's not true! I would know what to do with Heero after I gave him my chocolate!"

Xxx

_Compa and Heero were making out in bed underneath a thick blanket and their clothes littered the ground. The Gundam pilot lightly nibbled on Compa's collar, eliciting a gasp from the nurse-in-training._

_Compa was slightly disheveled from making out with the Perfect Soldier, "Wow… you really know how to kiss a woman, Heero."_

_Heero's lips curved into a smirk, "I haven't gone very far and you're already complimenting me."_

_Heero began to plant kisses down Compa's body until he stopped at her breasts to take in her beauty. Compa covered her breasts with her hands, slightly embarrassed that Heero had been staring at them, "Are they… big enough for you, Heero?"_

_Heero moved the pink haired nurse's hands away from the large mounds before him, "All I really care about are whether or not they are yours, Compa… and they look big and beautiful to me."_

_Compa's cheeks turned an even darker shade of red than they already were. The Gundam played with one of the soft mounds, while taking the other into his mouth._

_The pink haired nurse began to gasp and moan as Heero focused on her breasts, her fingers danced through his unruly brown hair, "H-Heero…"_

_When Heero was finished, he spread Compa's legs apart and positioned himself in front of her, "…Are you ready?"_

_Compa nodded her head, "Please be gentle…"_

_Heero gave Compa a light kiss before pushing himself into the pink haired girl, Compa almost immediately threw her head back as she let out a loud moan._

_As Heero continued to thrust into the nurse-in-training, Compa's nails began to dig into his back. After a few minutes, Compa had almost reached her limit, "H-Heero… I'm so close…!"_

_The Gundam pilot began to speed up his thrusts, "I want you… Compa…!"_

_With one final thrust, Compa let out a loud scream as Heero released into her, "HEERO!"_

Xxx

Compa was squirming slightly as she thought about the thrilling daydream she had just had, "Heero… you're so naughty…"

Compa looked back up to see Black Heart running after Heero with her box of chocolates tucked under her arm, the pink haired nurse's cheeks swelled up once again, "Get back here!"

Compa's shouting was loud enough for Neptune and IF to hear, as the two girls stopped arguing to see Compa running after Heero, and in front of her… Black Heart.

Neptune narrowed her eyes at the white haired girl, "This is just fantastic… she's come here to seduce Heero... again."

IF clenched her fists as she gnashed her teeth, "I'm not about to lose to any of you!"

IF and Neptune immediately gave chase to Compa, the CPU of Lastation, and the unsuspecting Heero.

Xxx

Heero came out of another store with a bag in his hands, and when he did, Black Heart was there waiting for him. The Gundam pilot kept his surprise to himself, not expecting to run into her in Lowee, "…It's you."

The white haired girl was silent, unable to look Heero in the eye. She took a deep breath and held the heart shaped box she was carrying out to Heero, "…H-Here."

Heero looked at the box Black Heart held in her hands, her cheeks were dark red as she stood in front of the Perfect Soldier, "D-Don't get the wrong idea! I-I just didn't know of anyone else to give these to."

Heero was about to reach for the box, when he heard three sets of footsteps approaching. When he looked in the direction of the noise, he saw Neptune, Compa and IF with their weapons drawn. Black Heart barely had enough time to get away as the three girls attack her.

Neptune pointed the tip of her sword at the white haired swordstress, "I told you Heero is MY lover. I won't let you take him from me."

"That's not fair, Nep-Nep! Heero is my lover, too!"

The four girls began to fight and argue with one another about who Heero's true lover was, and who would give Heero their chocolate first, when Heero cleared his throat to get their attention, "…Would one of you care to explain what is going on?"

And just like that, Neptune, Compa, IF, and Black Heart were standing in front of Heero with their boxes full of chocolate held out to him, "Take my chocolate, Heero."

"No, take mine!"

"Mine tastes better!"

"Forget them! Take mine!"

All four girls were trying to get Heero to take their chocolate that was mixed with the potent Love Potion made by Gust. Suddenly, a rumbling noise was heard underneath the small group, then a Sand Worm popped out of the ground to attack the group.

As it rose out of the ground, it destroyed the boxes of chocolate the four girls were holding. They stared at where their boxes had been… one... two… three seconds passed… and all they did was stare.

The Sand Worm roared at the Neptune, Compa, IF and Black Heart as they looked up at the monster. If looks could kill, and if monsters were considered people, all four of them would have been charged with first degree murder right on the spot.

Neptune held her katana in the air, "…I propose a truce until we've gotten rid of… THIS."

Compa held her syringe up so it was touching Neptune's sword, "I agree!"

IF held up one of her Katars, which touched both the Katana and the Syringe, "Agreed."

Black Heart held up her own sword so it touched Neptune, Compa and IF's weapons, "I'll agree to this truce… for now."

Neptune pointed her sword at the Sand Worm, murderous intent evident in her eyes, "Get him!"

Heero could only stare as Neptune, Compa, IF, and Black Heart pounced on the monster. They did anything they could that would inflict pain on the Sand Worm, they even destroyed a few buildings in the process, "…It seems that when angered, they experience a dramatic increase in combat performance."

The quartet of girls proceeded to assault the Sand Worm for the better part of five hours for the crime of destroying the chocolate that was meant for Heero.

Xxx

Neptune, Compa and IF were waiting back at their room in the inn along with Black Heart, "…I know why WE came back, but what I want to know is why YOU had to come back with us?"

Black Heart looked away from IF, "Heero asked me to come here, so I did. Not that care about him or anything, he just asked nicely."

The door swung open and Heero entered the room, "…I must ask all of you to close your eyes and hold out your hands."

The girls did not know why Heero wanted their eyes closed, but they complied with his instructions while holding their hands out. They felt some weight on their hands, but with their eyes closed, did not know what exactly Heero had placed in them, "…You may open them now."

The girls opened their eyes, which widened upon seeing what was in their hands. They were each holding a bag with a heart shaped box full of chocolate, a bouquet of flowers, and a stuffed bear tucked inside. Each bag and its contents were a different color to correspond to the four girls; Neptune's assorted bag of gifts were purple, Compa's were pink, IF's were blue, except for the roses which were red, and Black Heart's were black, "I did not know what would be appropriate, so I hope that these are acceptable."

All four girls were beside themselves with joy. Neptune was quick to set her bag of Valentine's Day gifts down and stuff Heero's face into her breasts, "This is proof that you really DO love me, Heero, and that we're Destined Lovers."

Heero peered up from his place in Neptune's chest while trying to free himself, "…We are not lovers."

Compa took the bouquet of flowers out of her bag and lifted the roses to her nose, "These roses smell really nice. They smell like they were just picked."

Black Heart held her teddy bear in her arms, giving it a light hug from time to time, "(So… does this mean… Heero likes me…?)"

IF opened her box of chocolate, inside were perfectly round shaped pieces of chocolate with a flower design on the top, "Did you make these yourself Heero? They look really good!"

Neptune, Compa and Black Heart opened their heart shaped boxes that contained the chocolaty delight inside. Outside in the snow, Gust was peering into the room from one of the windows, a nervous bead of sweat ran down her cheek, "…Gust is too late."

One by one, the girls ate a piece of chocolate, and shortly after they did they fell to their knees, holding themselves and moaning. Heero began to check Neptune's forehead in case she had a fever, "Are you alright?"

"H-Heero…"

Neptune began to strip off her bodysuit in front of Heero, exposing her breasts, then the rest of her skin, "I'm so hot…"

Heero's eyes widened as he gazed at the girl before him, something in his mind was telling him to run. He looked towards the door to see a naked Black Heart standing in front of it, the CPU of Lastation locked the door to prevent Heero from escaping, "(…I will have to escape from the windows.)"

As if they had read his mind, Compa and IF locked the windows and closed the blinds before stripping off every last bit of clothing they were wearing.

Outside, Gust began to run away from the inn as fast as her legs would carry her, "Gust should run before Heero gets free."

Heero was surrounded by four naked girls and no way to get out of the room, "(…It will be difficult, but-)"

Neptune suddenly wrapped her arms around Heero from behind, "Heero… let's get in bed together…"

Before Heero could attempt to get out of Neptune's embrace, Black Heart threw her arms around Heero's neck and gave him a deep kiss, running her tongue along every inch of Heero's mouth.

Both Neptune and Black Heart began to move Heero towards one of the beds, and once he fell on his back, both girls quickly got on top of him so he could not get back up. Compa and IF crawled onto the bed after Neptune and Black Heart had pinned the Gundam pilot down.

Neptune nibbled on Heero's left ear, "I hope you enjoy this as much as we will."

All four girls moved into Heero's peripheral vision, their intentions were crystal clear. Black Heart's lips curved into a smile, "We're going to make you feel really good, Heero."

"(…I will have to question Gust as to what she put into those chocolates… assuming I make it out of here alive.)"

Xxx

Me: (Laughing very hard) "Aww, man. You guys can't tell me with a straight face that you did not think this chapter was awesome!"

Neptune: (Already transformed) "I liked it. Especially the ending."

Compa: (Shuffles around from embarrassment) "I-It was very… exciting."

IF: (Face is completely red) "Exciting? Try erotic and mature!"

Black Heart: (Transformed and her face is red) "That's an understatement!"

Gust: "Gust got to play bigger part in chapter!"

Heero: (Glares at the Author) "…Why do you have me subjected to their whims in the ending of this chapter?"

Me: "You? Subjected to THEIR whims? You're getting four hot girls in the ending!" (Points at Neptune, Compa, IF, and Black Heart,) "I know they appreciate it. And I know our readers will!"

Heero: "…"

Me: "Don't look at me in that tone of voice." (Points at Neptune) "Nep! Wrap this up for us!"

Neptune: "Read and review this Bonus Chapter, because the Author said if we get enough good reviews, he guarantees that we will have a sequel." (Looks over at Heero) "And the longer the story, the more chances I have to get Heero to admit that he loves me, and then we can have our… special moment together… alone."

Me: "Well, you heard her right folks. Also, I have a new poll up on my User page, in case you didn't know. I would appreciate the honest opinion of all those who read this story when voting on the poll, as it wil affect the actual story-related chapters." (Points to the exit of After Chapter Chat Corner) "Come my friends! We have much work to do, and little time to do it in!"

Me, Heero, Neptune, Compa, IF, Gust, and Black Heart: (Run out of ACCC)


	13. A favor for Lady White Heart?

Me: (Gives a bow to the readers) "Hello, my good readers! We here in the story have been getting quite a few good reviews, so the chances of the sequel to this wacky, romantic, action packed story are looking good."

Heero and Neptune: (Walk into 'Intro Corner', Neptune holds onto Heero's left arm) "This story is starting to look really awesome!"

Me: "You thought it wasn't before?"

IF: (Walks into 'Intro Corner') "You've actually been working pretty hard lately, though you really should remember to take a break while you're working. If you get sick, or get too tired, then the readers are going to have to wait even longer for you to update the story, and I don't think any of them want that."

Compa: (Runs into 'Intro Corner') "Sorry… *pant* I'm late…"

Neptune: (Looks at Compa) "Whatcha been doing Compa?"

Compa: (Face turns red) "Well… I was… reading the… Valentine's Special again."

Me: "There's no need to apologize. Now, let's keep this 'Intro Corner' short and get right into the chapter. Read the dis-"

Black Heart and Gust: (Run into 'Intro Corner') "Wait!"

Me: (Looks at Black Heart and Gust) "I thought you two had stuff to take care of?"

Black Heart: (Dusts off her dress) "Well, I got finished early."

Gust: "And Gust has finished gathering ingredients."

Neptune: "So you're gonna help us with the intro, Amnesiac Best Buddy?"

IF: "She can't be your 'Amnesiac Best Buddy' when she's actually got her memories back."

Me: "People, we're drifting. Since they're here, they can help read off the disclaimer."

Heero, Neptune, Compa, IF, Gust, and Black Heart: "HeeroU-"

White Heart: (Enters 'Intro Corner') "…Stop."

Me: "Why is it that you guys are waiting until now to come in?"

Neptune: (Points at White Heart) "Hey, it's that weird girl! You gonna try and steal Heero again?"

Black Heart: "Wh-What?! She tried to steal Heero?! (…The last thing I need, more competition!)"

White Heart: "…I'm not trying to steal anyone. I just want some time in the intro."

Me: "Can we please read off the disclaimer so we can get on with the story? I think the readers are tired of waiting."

Heero, Neptune, Compa, IF, Gust, Black Heart, and White Heart: "HeeroUzuki does not own Gundam Wing, Hyperdimension Neptunia, Super Robot Wars, or anything related to either of the three franchises."

Neptune: "Hey, there was one more on the disclaimer for this chapter."

Me: "Now let's get this chapter underway, people!"

Me, Heero, Neptune, Compa, IF, Gust, Black Heart, and White Heart: (Leave 'Intro Corner')

**Ch. 11 A Favor for Lady White Heart? A dangerous situation! Launch, Exbein!**

The party's search for the Key Fragment yielded no results, no matter how many foes they defeated, not a single clue as to the Key Fragments whereabouts surfaced.

Neptune was sitting on a park bench with Heero, eating an ice cream cone while waiting for IF and Compa to return from gathering information, "Why does it have to be so hard to find the Key Fragment? Why can't we have some kinda Key Fragment tracker dealie?"

Heero had been sitting next to the group's energetic leader with his eyes closed, briefly opening them to look at her before closing them once again, "We do not have the resources to construct such a device."

Neptune finished devouring her ice cream gone, and then began to curl up next to Heero, "Heero, I'm cold. Hold me."

Heero narrowed his eyes at Neptune as she began to sit in his lap, "…That is what happens when you eat frozen dessert in cold weather like this."

"But that's when it tastes best! And it tastes even better since I'm sharing it with my Destined Lover."

Heero raised an eyebrow as he looked at the purple haired preteen, "Share it with me?"

Neptune stuck her tongue out to the Gundam pilot, "Yeah! We're gonna do tongues!"

"…No."

Neptune began to draw shapes on Heero's chest, "C'mon Heero, I know you wanna."

IF and Compa had finally come back from gathering information, and saw Neptune trying to get Heero to kiss her, "…What the hell are you doing?"

Neptune looked back to see the brunette with her arms folded over her chest, "I'm sharing my ice cream with Heero."

"By trying to make out with him? (Neptune's already gotten farther with Heero than I have since yesterday… I can't afford to leave her alone with him.)"

The preteen rapidly nodded her head. Heero speared his chocolate brown bangs, "All of this aside, what have you found out about the Key Fragment?"

Compa looked slightly disheartened, "No one knows anything about it or where it could be."

The brunette next to Compa folded her arms, "I didn't expect anyone to know about the Key Fragment. It was a complete waste of time."

Neptune stopped trying to kiss Heero, "We should go to the Basilicom. They gotta know of more dungeons with strong monsters we can go to."

Heero was slightly surprised that Neptune actually came up with the party's next course of action, and it was actually related to finding the Key Fragment, "…It seems to be the only real way for us to get anything accomplished."

With their course of action now determined, the party set out for the central Basilicom, Entremets.

Xxx

After another unpleasant trip through the desolate forest path to the Basilicom, the party arrived at Entremets. Neptune ran up to the religious structure and pounded on the door, "Hello? Anybody in there? We need some more info on dungeons!"

The Basilicom door opened, and standing in the doorway was Lady White Heart's chamberlain Financier. The Basilicom employee wore an apologetic look on her face, "I apologize, but our goddess is not seeing guests today."

Neptune looked disheartened, "What? Is she still upset about last time? Can't you do anything about it, Ms. Chamberlain?"

"I have no way to change our goddess' demands. Please leave."

IF shook her head at Neptune's failed attempt to see the goddess about the Key Fragment, "Nep, she can't help. Let's go for now. I already thought up another plan in case this happened."

Heero was once again impressed with IF, "(…And here I thought I was the only one planning for a situation such as this. However, I have been questioning whether or not my own plan would achieve the desired results.)"

Xxx

The group returned to the town closest to the Basilicom, with houses and buildings that looked like mushrooms, each with a different color roof, and of course, they were coated with snow.

Neptune, Heero and Compa followed IF to a park with less human activity. The brunette turned to face the party when she was sure that no one would eavesdrop on them, "There's something I haven't told you three. I actually… belong to the Guild."

Compa tilted her head at IF, "The Guild? I've learned a little about it. They're the people who don't worship the goddess of the land they're born on."

Neptune assumed her thinking position, "So, they don't believe in the goddess' power?"

Heero began to lean on a nearby lamp post, "It's not that they do not believe in their power, they simply worship another goddess."

IF crossed her arms and nodded, "Pretty much. We're so-called heretics. Like, if someone born on Lowee worshipped Lady Green Heart instead of Lady White Heart."

Neptune suddenly began to poke IF's arm, "So? Who d'you believe in? Tell me, tell me, tell me!"

IF swat Neptune's hand, annoyed at the preteen for pestering her, "Nope! I can't tell that to anyone. Not even you. (…Though… I might tell Heero…)"

With Neptune no longer prying for an answer, IF steered the conversation back to the Guild, "Back to the topic, then. The heretics gathered together and established the Guild. It's the same on every planet, but people look down on Guild members. They're branded as heretics, after all."

"So, where are these Guild members? Do they travel the world like you, Iffy?"

IF turned her attention to Compa, letting her arms fall to her sides, "One of the answers to that… is here, on Lowee."

IF never failed to impress Heero, "…I apologize for making you to take care of our current situation, as we cannot deal with it ourselves."

IF looked away from the Gundam pilot, "I-It's no big deal, really. Someone has to fix our problem, and we can't expect you to take care of everything."

The Guild member turned her back to the party and began to walk away, a smirk plastered on her face, "…So, whoever is the most useful will undoubtedly get Heero's attention. With my connections in the Guild, that makes me the most useful… not that I wasn't already, I've just had to deal with unexpectedly difficult competition."

Xxx

After leaving to take care of her own agenda, IF found the party in a park waiting for her. IF was looking down at her cell phone when she was sufficiently close to the group, "You know how there's a Basilicom in each Lowee city, right? They govern the local area?"

Compa nodded at the brunette, "Yes I remember. It's a bit different from other lands where there's only one. Does it have something to do with the Guild?"

IF redirected her attention to the pink cell phone in her hand, "Hold on. I've got a helper today. We can talk after she arrives. She's involved, too."

A moment later, an individual approached the party, who they believed to be IF's helper. Neptune and Compa were surprised to see who it was, while Heero merely kept his surprise to himself as usual, "Hello. We meet again. I'm Financier, Lady White Heart's Chamberlain. I would've never guessed that IF was also a Guild member."

Neptune looked from IF to Financier, then IF again, and repeated, "She's your helper? Why? She's a Guild member, too? But… she's taking care of Lowee's CPU, right? This is whack!"

"Yes, I'm a member as well. I don't worship Lady White Heart. Work is work. My beliefs are my beliefs. But I'm sure I'll be thrown out as soon as this is public knowledge."

Fortunately for Financier, there was no one passing through the park the group was meeting in, so aside from the party, no one else would know that she did not believe in the CPU of showed sympathy for the Guild member, "It sounds tough, being a heretic. Please go on. How are the towns of Lowee and the Guild related?"

"The Guild's hideout, subtly titled Guild City, is among Lowee's cities. About ten years ago, there was an oppressive movement against heretics in Leanbox, leading to a major purge. Most members barely made it to Lowee safe. That's supposedly how the Guild started."

The nurse-in-training looked between IF and Financier, "So now what are the heretics doing here in Lowee? This is gonna lead to another Leanbox!"

"Those who escaped to Lowee were temporarily taken into custody as heretics at Entremets, the Central Basilicom. Then, they decided to create a city for the heretics, run by heretics. That is Guild City. Their Basilicom is run by the Guild and their members are the city's residents. The whole city belongs to the Guild."

Neptune looked around at the buildings around the park, "Long story short, this spot's part of Guild City, yeah? It's not really different looking from other places…"

Heero finally joined in the conversation after silently listening to the girls, "If heretics are looked down upon and they have their own city which they govern, I doubt they would want to broadcast their whereabouts to the other inhabitants of Lowee."

IF nodded her head, "(Once again, Heero seems to understand better than Neptune, but that doesn't take much now, does it?) Exactly. We wouldn't want to make it look obvious. There's still more to the story."

Compa had a more serious look on her face, "We want to see the CPU! Ms. Chamberlain is our helper, right? How can we get into Entremets?"

Neptune chimed in as well, "Don'tcha have special Chamberlain privileges? I betcha they'll let us in if we're buddied up with you."

The Basilicom employee shook her head, "A Chamberlain doesn't have much power. If I tried to let someone in without permission, somebody else will stop me."

Heero maintained an emotionless façade as he spoke to the Chamberlain, "If there are heretics within the Basilicom, surely there are measures in place to aid in their escape, such as hidden passages.

The Chamberlain stared at Heero for a moment, "…Your friend is sharp, isn't he? Back to what I was saying. The heretics in the Basilicom will be thrown out once they're found. But depending on the situation, additional punishments may apply. The Leanbox purge is not an unrelated matter. On that note, each Lowee Basilicom is connected to Entremets via secret underground pathways."

IF allowed her arms to fall to her sides, "Underground tunnels for Basilicom heretics to use as a means of escape. Financier can take us there so we can enter Entremets."

Compa began to smile as the party's situation began to improve, "I see now! It makes sense! Let's head to that underground… tunnel… place. That's our best chance to see the goddess."

Financier turned in the direction of the nearest exit of the town to show the party the way to Entremets. Neptune and Compa immediately followed after Financier, while Heero and IF maintained a comfortable distance behind the three girls. IF glanced at Heero from time to time, "So… it looks like we will be able to see the goddess after all."

Heero nodded his head, not uttering a word. The silence was beginning to bug the brunette, until Heero glanced at her, "This 'Leanbox purge' you and Financier were talking about… were you targeted as well?"

IF was fairly surprised at the Perfect Soldiers question, "Why do you ask?"

"…If you were, then I am glad that you were not seriously harmed."

IF stopped dead in her tracks, her cheeks slowly turning bright red, "H-Huh?"

Heero continued past the brunette, focusing on the task at hand, while IF stared at him from behind, "…Did I just here him right? He… Heero was concerned about… me?"

Within the confines of IF's mind, her inner chibi was dancing around with a pair of pom-poms in her hands, "(_Yes! Heero's worried about me! He likes me! Take that you brainless moron! You too, pink haired ditz!_)"

While the inner chibi was still dancing around, IF was still trying to process what she had heard the teen had said. Shaking her head, she quickly caught up with Heero and the rest of the group.

Xxx

The party followed Financier into an underground cave that would lead them to cave looked live the some of the dungeons in Lastation; stalagmites and stalactites protruded off the ceiling and out of the ground, white fluorescent crystals were growing on the walls and conveniently placed torches were placed throughout the cave.

Compa scanned the immediate area of the cave as the party entered, "So this is it? I sense the aura of monsters! How would you really use these tunnels if it came down to it?!"

Financier shrugged her shoulders at the nurse-in-training, "We've never had to use them. The monsters started migrating here to escape the frigid weather outside."

Compa blinked at the Guild member a few times, "I-I see. That's only natural. Monsters are living beings with feelings too, after all."

IF was looking down at her favorite pink cell phone, "Let's move. Financier can't fight, so we have to take care of the monsters without her!"

Neptune had her hands on her hips and her facial expression suggested she was brimming with confidence, "We don't have to worry about that. We got Heero."

IF looked back at the preteen, "What have I told you about leaving everything up to Heero? Still, I will give you that one. He's like one of those super all-rounder characters or something."

Neptune pointed in towards the depths of the cave, "Now let's go see us a goddess!"

The party began to make their way into the cave leading to Entremets, and more importantly, the CPU of Lowee. Shortly into their trek of the underground passage, Financier leaned towards IF so she could whisper to the brunette without drawing the attention of Neptune, Heero, or Compa, "_IF, I have something I'd like to ask you_."

IF looked at the Guild member out of the corner of her eye, "_What is it?_"

"_I was wondering what the chances are of getting you to hook me with your friend there._"

When Financier motioned towards Heero, IF came to an abrupt stop, "WHAT?!"

Neptune, Heero and Compa stopped to look back at the brunette Guild member, "What's the matter, Iffy?"

IF began to feel embarrassed, her sudden outburst had made her the center of attention… and she had not intended for it to happen, "Uhh… n-nothing's wrong! I… just… uh… remember something I had watched earlier and just now thought about it."

Neptune pulled a lollipop out of her hoodie pocket and stuck it in her mouth, "Whatever you say Iffy."

The group continued on into the cave, while an irked IF looked back at Financier, "_What the hell kind of question was that?!_"

"_I was just asking if he was available, unless of course YOU are interested in him._"

The brunette Guild member began to stammer as she looked away, "_Wh-Where do you get the idea that I'm interested in Heero? Because I'm not!_"

"_Oh? You struck me as being very interested in him, to the point of… possibly 'sleeping' with him._"

IF's face grew more and more red as the conversation dragged on, "_You make it sound like I only want to screw him!_"

"_While I've only known you for so long, I wouldn't put it past you._"

IF narrowed her eyes at the Chamberlain, "_Where do you get off analyzing me?_"

"_So do you like him or not? Because it seems like your friends are interested in him._"

The brunette turned her gaze forward to see Neptune and Compa each taking ahold of one of Heero's arms, going on about their usual topic of being 'Heero's lover', "_Are you not his type or something? That's the only reason I see you not being interested in him._"

IF came to a complete stop while Financier and the rest of the party walked ahead of her, "(Not his type?)"

In truth, none of the girls in the party knew Heero's type. Neptune and Compa just assumed that the Gundam pilot liked them because of his small displays of kindness, "(Well… I don't know… maybe if I tried asking him…?)"

IF looked up to see that Financier and the rest of the party were gone. She had stopped just before a three-way path, and the group could have taken either path while she had been thinking about what Heero might be interested in in terms of women, "…I'll just go straight. It's a fifty-fifty chance they went this way."

As she followed the path before her, IF fell back into her thoughts about Heero and his interests, "(Heero keeps to himself most of the time... or at least he tries to. He's very focused with his 'mission', but he also shows some concern every now and then… right? And he is smart… good looking… strong… nice…)"

IF was so wrapped up in her thoughts, that she did not notice that she was being surrounded by monsters until one of them was right in front of her. The monster before the Guild member bore a striking resemblance to the Killer Rabbit the party had fought before, but of course there were was a noticeable difference between it and the monster in front of IF.

Aside from its name being 'Berserker Bunny', the only real difference that could be seen was that the rabbit-like monster had a snow white fur coat. IF had just enough time to count the number of monsters that had surrounded her before they converged on the brunette.

IF deftly evaded the attacks launched by the monsters, putting some distance between herself and the monsters that had attempted to ambush her, "…Four of them. Shouldn't be too difficult to handle."

IF only saw four 'Berserker Rabbits', she did not see the fifth behind her until it lunged at her, "(Crap! I was so focused on the monsters in front of me that I didn't even think to check for anymore!)"

Just as it seemed as though the 'Berserker Bunny' was about to land a hit, a streak of pink light struck the rabbit and sent it flying away from the brunette. The monster landed on the ground, twitching for five seconds before its movements ceased, "(That light… is that…?)"

IF looked in the direction where the blast of thermal energy came from to see Heero with his arm outstretched and the GN Sword III with its blade folded back to reveal the rifle barrel, "Heero…"

Neptune, Compa and Financier were seen standing behind Heero, "Hey, Iffy! We were looking everywhere for ya! Whatcha doing getting surrounded by monsters?"

The brunette blinked a few times before she stomped her foot, looking slightly irked, "I-It's not like I planned for this to happen!"

The Perfect Soldier ran straight for IF, removing his jacket as he drew closer. The teen tossed his jacket at one of the 'Berserker Bunny's' that had attempted another surprise attack on IF, while punting a second away into the rocky cave wall, "Don't take your eyes off the enemy."

Compa fired a bullet from her syringe at the 'Berserker Bunny' that Heero had kicked into the wall, finishing the rabbit-like creature. Neptune kicked a third monster before pulling out her gun, "Get life insurance!"

The bullet that struck the 'Berserker Bunny' landed with such force it sent the monster back into the wall, where the bullet exploded shortly after. Moments after the preteen had slain the rabbit monster, Heero had brought his GN Sword down on the fourth with an overhead slash. The attack landed with no chance for the monster to either block or remain standing.

IF tried to move, but found that she could not for some reason, "(What's gotten into me? Why can't I move?!)"

The 'Berserker Bunny' that Heero had tossed his jacket onto had finally freed itself, having struggled to escape for the majority of the battle. Once free it aimed for IF, who still could not move.

IF felt a warm liquid hit her cheek, prompting her to inspect it. Her finger tips touched the liquid and she brought her hand to her face to see just what it was, "(…Blood?)"

The brunette slowly turned her head to the right to see the last 'Berserker Bunny' that had ambushed her, its teeth had dug into exposed skin from what she could see. IF slowly scanned what the monster had bitten into to see an arm, then followed it see a green tank top, "(Isn't that…?!)"

The person that had been injured by the monster was Heero. IF noticed just how close Heero was, one arm was wrapped around her waist, while the other was, of course, bitten by the 'Berserker Bunny'. IF soon came to the conclusion that Heero had shielded her from the attack at the expense of his own health, "…W-Why did you…?"

While he was injured, Heero's face seemed to suggest that the pain simply did not register or that it was insignificant, as he wore his normal stoic façade. The Gundam pilot slammed his arm into the rocky wall to knock the monster off, which came off almost immediately. Once it landed on the ground, Neptune brought the Armas down on its small body, cutting the rabbit monster in half, "That's for trying to eat my Destined Lover, jerk!"

Once the fight had ended, Neptune and Compa ran over to inspect Heero's injury, "You're not gonna bleed to death or nothing, right Heero? We haven't had our M rated scene yet!"

"Are you all right, Heero? I'll heal it quick so it doesn't scar."

Heero pick his jacket up off the ground, "You two are making a very big deal out of such a minor injury."

IF stood against the wall across from Neptune, Heero and Compa, a feeling of guilt hanging over her, "That's the second time he's had to save me…"

After Compa had made a healing item for Heero to drink using some of the supplies they had on hand, applying antibiotics, and wrapping a bandage around his injury, the party went back to the three-way path and turned to follow the left path.

The path had many curves and the party saw little fighting as they were trying to get to the goddess as soon as they could. As the party neared the exit of the underground cave IF came to a stop looking down at the ground silently. Compa looked back at the brunette after noticing that she was not keeping up with the group, "What's wrong Iffy? Are you not feeling well?"

"No… it's not that…"

Neptune walked over to IF and began to poke her cheek, "What'sa matter Iffy? Are you hungry? I know I am. Once we get outta here, I'm gonna have a super huge bowl of pork flavored ramen and a big juicy burger."

IF's eye twitched from both being poked by Neptune and how said preteen went on about food, "I'm not hungry."

IF looked away from the group, "It's just… I froze up during a battle. I've never had that happen to me before. Not only that, but Heero had to save me again and he got hurt because of me."

Heero looked at IF out of the corner of his eye, "…Is that all?"

IF stared at Heero, "Is that all? I may have become the biggest burden on the party and that's all you have to say?! As unlikely as it was, you could have died because of me, Heero!"

"Even the best fighters will stumble from time to time. If you allow yourself to see it as failure and weigh you down, then you really will become a burden. As for me; know that I would not endanger my own life for just any person. As it stands, the only people who I would risk my own life to save would be you, Neptune and Compa. Anyone else is merely collateral."

The trio looked at Heero, thinking that if they stared at him long enough that he would tell them 'why' he would willingly risk his own life for them. When that didn't work, Neptune walked up to the Gundam pilot and lightly tugged on his shirt, "Just so we know, why would you sacrifice yourself for us? I mean, I know why you would save me. I AM your Destined Lover and all."

Heero looked away from Neptune, focusing his attention on the exit, "…Because you three are important to me."

As with every other time that Heero had said something in a way he had no intended for it to sound, the trio turned a dark shade of red. Neptune buried her face into Heero's back, "I told you Heero, you don't have to say all these nice things if you wanna have our M Rated scene. You just gotta wait till we're alllll alone in bed. But you are scoring major Love points with me."

IF averted her gaze from Heero, "You know, you really have to watch what you say, Heero. What will other people think?"

Compa grabbed on to Heero's left arm, swelling with happiness, "The way you say that makes us look like real lovers, Heero!"

Heero was in deep contemplation over the girls' reaction to what he said, "(…They seem to misinterpret whatever I say in a given situation. Perhaps I should adjust my vocabulary during such situations. No… perhaps I am showing more emotion than I normally do. But what could be causing this sudden increase in displayed emotions?)"

The party continued towards the exit after alleviating the thoughts that had plagued IF. The brunette glanced at Heero a few times while he was preoccupied with Neptune and Compa, "(His type…) He-"

IF suddenly stopped herself, shook her head, and continued walking, "(…Now's not exactly the best time. I'll ask him later.)"

Xxx

In Lady White Heart's chamber in the Central Basilicom Entremets, The CPU of Lowee was lying across her bed with a book in hand, and small pile of books next to her. Her thoughts began to drift towards a certain purple haired preteen as she flipped the page of her book, "…Neptune's already given up. Or, maybe she never meant to go back."

Lady White Heart glanced over at the door upon hearing it open, "Financier? I thought you took the day off."

"Sorry-dorry! The correct answer is: Neptune, her super-amazing Destined Lover and her three awesome birdies!"

Financier began to panic as Neptune had included her, "D-D-Don't include me in this! I told you to not tell her I was here."

Lady White Heart turned her attention back to her book, "…You brought them? Whatever. I'll hear you out… since you're , go away. Take them, too."

"Understood! Everyone, let's go before our Lady verbally abuses us, crushes our egos, and takes away our wills to live."

IF looked at Financier as if she was insane, "What?! Financier! There's no way Nep can carry on an important conversation by herself…!"

Compa did not appear to be anywhere near as worried as the brunette, "Nep-Nep, focus and do your best! I believe in your social skills!"

Heero complied with the request without showing any resistance; and Heero, Compa and IF left Lady White Heart's room with Financier. White Heart narrowed her eyes at the door as it closed, "…Damn Chamberlain."

The goddess directed her attention at Neptune, "Told those guys your identity? Careless idiot."

Neptune inclined her head at where she presumed the CPU was, "Are you still angry…? Sorry. But I really gotta ask about that Key Fragment again."

"…You've developed tough skin since coming to the human world. Or should I say fat skin with lots of blubber?"

The CPU of Lowee continued to use her fowl mouth on the preteen, "…Whatever. I've no intention to talk to you! I won't tell you a damn thing. Not even if I did know something! Stupid brat! What're you here for?! What happened to your frickin' land? Stuff your fat head into your ass and go home!"

Neptune swallowed hard as the goddess of Lowee verbally abused her, "L-Lady White Heart?! You're not acting like you were a second ago… Did I step on a personality swap button trap…?"

"You've stepped all over me and my land! Looking for an item? Get the hell outta here!"

A nervous bead of sweat ran down Neptune's cheek as she was subject to Lady White Heart's vulgarity, "Whoa! What's wrong with you? Why're you being a vulgar meanie? Heero and I just wanna save Histy! Whatcha got to lose by helping us? Aren't you Lowee's CPU?!"

Neptune seemed to have struck a nerve, as the CPU of Lowee sniped at her, "How dare you bring that shit up with me! What's wrong with YOU, bitch?! 'Lady White Heart?' You're creepin' me out. And another thing, what the hell's up with you calling this Heero guy your Destined Lover? Are you tryin' to get into his pants or something? Or have you turned into a horny bitch since meeting him?"

The CPU suddenly stopped, her voice became much softer and much less vulgar, "Huh? …Lady… White Heart…? You called me by my full name…"

Neptune assumed her thinking position and smiled as the tension and hostility in the room dissipated, "Yep, Lady White Heart! D'you wanna be called something more fun? How about Whitypoo?"

"Call me that again and I'll kill you! I guess you're not someone who can pretend or lie…"

Neptune stared at the bed surrounded with drapes, thoroughly confused, "Huh?! Seriously, what's up with you? You were super mad, and now you're all smirkalicious…"

"…Forget it. It's fine. You can leave now."

Neptune stepped closer to the queen sized bed in the center of the room, "How could I?! I'm way confused, here. I'm not gonna go until you tell me about monsters and the Key Fragment!"

The goddess released a sigh, as it seemed that Neptune really wasn't going to leave withoutunless the CPU told her what she wanted to know, "…Okay. Write your questions on a damn piece of paper and give it to the Chamberlain. I'll write back."

Neptune eyed the goddess suspiciously, despite the fact that she could not even see her, "You sure? Now you sound really indifferent or something."

"…Oh no, I think I'm growing more fond of you. You're exactly who I thought you were…"

Neptune turned to leave the room, when Lady White Heart stopped her, "…Wait. Before you leave, I would like to see your… 'Bodyguard' in private."

The purple haired preteen immediately turned around, her cheeks began to swell, up, "What do you want Heero for? Are you gonna try and get him in bed with you so you can do the thing?! He's MY Destined Lover! I'm the only one who can do that! And I haven't even done it yet!"

The CPU started choking, then regained her composure, "…Where do you get the idea I want to do that?! You make it seem as though I want him in here so I can screw him! Just send him in."

Neptune reluctantly complied. A few moments after she left the room, Heero walked in, "…You requested to see me?"

"…That's right. I hope I'm not taking up your time, Heero."

The Perfect Soldier kept his gaze focused on the goddess' bed, "No. Though I am curious as to why the goddess of Lowee wishes to speak to me."

The tone of the goddess' voice suggested that she was intrigued by the soldier's curiosity, "…Oh? You are curious as to why I asked you to come in?"

Heero crossed his arms and gathered his thoughts, "I will be honest, I doubt you called me in here just to talk. As I understand it, Lady White Heart, you are the goddess that protects and rules this landmass, so you cannot be bothered to remember the names of every person that enters or leaves Lowee when you have more important tasks to accomplish. Yet of all the passersby you could have remembered, you chose remember my name, which leads me to suspect that you want something from me."

Lady White Heart quietly took in Heero's form, as she did the first time, "…You certainly are sharp and very observant. Yes, I do need something from you. I understand that you are a very capable individual, so I have a… personal favor to ask of you."

Heero stood silently as the CPU asked her 'personal favor', "I like to write in my free time, but the pencils I use tend to break shortly after I use them."

A slip of paper slipped through a small opening in the drapes and landed on the ground at Heero's feet, "There is a dungeon that contains a very rare mineral ore. This ore can be made into very high quality pencils that are strong and unlikely to break."

"And you want me to acquire some of this ore to bring back to you?"

Lady White Heart nodded her head, "…That's correct. I realize this is a rather tedious request. I will have your reward by the time you return."

Heero questioned whether or not he should actually undertake the request, but then thought about the benefits of completing it, "(…Should I complete this task, Lady White Heart may request my services again. It could give us more opportunities to inquire about the Key Fragment.) …Very well."

Heero turned to leave the room, leaving the goddess alone in her thoughts, "…He does look quite reliable. And after seeing what he is capable of firsthand, he may make it difficult to get rid of Neptune."

Xxx

The party returned to the town near Entremets, contemplating their next course of action as they wait for a response from the group was sitting at a restaurant table, Neptune had a large bowl of ramen and an XXL sized soda in front of her and was happily slurping up the noodles with a pair of chopsticks, "Isn't this great? A BIG bowl ramen that I get to have free re-fills on!"

IF had a salad in front of her with a medium sized soda, "I think we may not have to start worrying about Nep eating through all of our money with deals like this."

Compa sat across from IF with a small bowl of ramen in front of her and a medium sized soda as well, "Iffy, Nep-Nep just has a healthy appetite."

Heero sat across from Neptune with his laptop and a glass of water in front of him. IF leaned over to look at the computer screen, "…What are you doing?"

"I am looking for a particular object here in Lowee. A rare ore that is supposedly used to make pencils."

The brunette inclined her had at the teen, "Ore for making penci- Oh. THAT'S what you're looking for."

"You sound as if you know what I'm looking for."

IF leaned back in her seat, "Yeah. The ore isn't rare because of anything like scarcity. Lowee is abundant with the mineral ore, the problem is that there are a lot of monsters around the veins that the ore can be harvested. Why are you looking for it anyway?"

"…No particular reason."

Neptune stopped slurping up her ramen when her bowl was empty, ordered a refill from the party's waiter, then looked at Heero's drink, "Why did you get water? You should have a sweet, sugary soda, Heero."

Heero closed his laptop, placed it back into his backpack, and stood up, "…I have some business I must attend to."

Heero turned and walked towards the restaurant doors. IF looked down at Heero's seat to see money to pay for their bill, "Heero's been working pretty hard lately. Well, actually, he's always working hard. Don't you guys think we should give him a break?"

Neptune had gone back to eating as soon as her bowl full of ramen came back to the table. Compa let out a small gasp as if she had suddenly remembered something, "I wanted to check Heero's arm to make sure he was healing properly."

Compa stood up and followed after Heero, who had left moments before her. IF watched as the pink haired nurse took off, then glanced over at Neptune, "Shouldn't we follow them?"

Neptune looked up from her bowl of ramen long enough to see Compa leave the restaurant, "As long as she doesn't try to do the thing with Heero, we won't have any trouble."

Th Guild member face palmed herself as Neptune went back to eating, "…Why do I even bother?"

Xxx

Heero was entering a dense forest that was, of course, full of snow. Heero scanned the area for any sign of monsters, "…There appears to be no enemies… yet."

Heero heard the crunching sound of snow being stepped on behind him, and it was drawing closer. Heero hid behind a tree and waited as the source of the noise continued to move closer, "(…Now!)"

Heero jumped out from behind the tree and landed on top of his pursuer, "Who are y-"

The Gundam pilot stopped in mid-sentence when he saw that he was on top of Compa, who looked very scared, "Y-Y-You s-s-scared me Heero!"

"I apologize, but you should not have been following me."

Compa was about to get back up when she noticed where Heero's hand was, "Umm… H-H-Heero…"

Heero looked down to see his hand groping one of Compa's breasts. The Perfect Soldier stood up and looked away from the nurse-in-training, "…Once again, I apologize."

Compa had her own back turned to Heero, "N-No, that's all right Heero… I-I mean if you… want to have an… M Rated scene with me, then…"

Heero began to walk into dense forest-like dungeon, "I have a mission to complete. Excuse me."

"W-Wait, Heero!"

Heero looked back at Compa, "What is it?"

Compa dusted off the snow that had stuck to her skirt, "Well, I came here to check your arm, but if you're going to go into this dungeon, then I'm going with you. You might get hurt."

Heero questioned whether or not to allow Compa to accompany him into the dungeon that contained the ore that Lady White Heart had requested him to obtain for her. The Gundam pilot returned his attention forward, "…Do what you will."

A smile made its way onto Compa's face as she followed the Gundam pilot, "However, should we find ourselves in a situation where we have no chance of winning, I want you to run."

"You don't really think we'll be in a situation like that do you, Heero?"

The Gundam pilot kept walking forward, "There is no telling what could happen during a mission. I am just making sure you know what to do should such a situation arise."

Both Heero and Compa ventured into the dungeon. They only encountered relatively weak monsters at the entrance, three Killer Rabbits. Compa readied her syringe, feeling confident since the first monsters in the dungeon tend to give a rough estimate as to the dungeons difficulty, "I think I can take care of these monsters myself! Heero, your arm is still injured, so you need to rest. Besides, you're stronger than I am so you need to save your strength in case there are any strong monsters."

Heero saw no reason to argue with the pink haired nurse when she made a valid point. Heero silently nodded his head and stood off to the side to watch Compa. The nurse-in-training watched as the small monsters started hopping towards her, "This'll be powerful!"

The nurse-in-training fired a bullet from her syringe that knocked her on her back because she did not prepare herself for the recoil. The bullet struck the Killer Rabbit and launched it into a small mountain of snow which now became its grave soon as she got back up, Compa lifted her syringe over her head, a smile on her face, "This will hurt."

Compa drove the needle of her oversized medical appliance into the unfortunate monster in front of her. The second Killer Rabbit twitched and convulsed as the syringe needle went through its 'head', until it stopped moving.

Heero stood silently as Compa dispatched of the first two furry monsters, "…I think I have become allergic to needles."

As Heero began to retreat into his thoughts, the third Killer Rabbit attempted to sneak up on him. The Gundam pilot could hear the small monster approaching, but pretended not to notice as it drew closer. Just as the last Killer Rabbit was ready to attack, Compa came out of nowhere and slapped the monster across the face, her cheeks were red and beginning to swell up.

The nurse-in-training continued to slap the Killer Rabbit as she started nagging it, "It isn't nice to sneak up on Heero like that! And another thing…"

Heero stared at Compa as she slapped and nagged at the Killer Rabbit until it fell on its back, dead as a doornail, "(…I am unable to determine what defeated the enemy; the constant slapping or her nagging.)"

Compa turned to Heero with a smile on her face after making sure the monster would not get up again, "How did I do, Heero? Have I gotten stronger?"

Heero glanced over at the Killer Rabbit that had been slapped to death, and then back to the pink haired nurse, "…Is that a rhetorical question?"

Compa seemed happy with what Heero considered praise. With the monsters defeated, both Heero and Compa continued into the dungeon. As they traveled further into the forest, Heero did not see any more monsters after the three that had attacked them moments ago. Compa watched Heero as he looked for any sign of movement, "What are you looking for?"

"Usually they are quite numerous, however there are no enemies in the area."

The nurse-in-training noticed that there were in fact no monsters popping out at them, which was very strange considering that they could usually be found all over the place, "But that means it won't be as difficult to find the item you're looking for Heero."

"That may be true, but I cannot help but feel that something is off."

Even though there were no monsters Heero kept his guard up, believing that there was wrong with the dungeon. As they arrived at the back of the forest, Compa saw a small glow on the rocky wall near a frozen pond, "That must be the… ore… thing you're looking for!"

Compa ran forward to examine the vein of ore while Heero stood at the entrance of the clearing. Something in the back of Heero's mind suddenly told him 'Don't let her go', 'It is dangerous'. Heero snapped out of his reverie of thought and Compa was already halfway towards the vein of ore, "Compa, get back her!"

The pink haired nurse turned to look at Heero as he called out to her. Suddenly, a large object landed in front of Compa, causing her to fall on her back. Standing in front of Compa was a humanoid monster called a 'Gyuki' that had the body and arms of a human, but had the reverse joint legs of an animal. It wore a red loin cloth, a gold helmet from a suit of armor with horns protruding from the sides, a red cape and a large bracelet on its right arm. In its right hand was a large axe, while its left hand was encased in a strange octagonal object with a gold shield strapped onto it.

Compa was in a very dangerous situation. Heero's GN Sword III appeared on his right arm as he rushed towards the 'Gyuki' to distract it and buy time for Compa to move away from the large monster, "(…This must be the reason why there are no other enemies here. It claimed this forest as its nest and ran off any other creatures that lived here.)"

Heero was so focused with the 'Gyuki' in front of him that he did not see the second one thundering towards him until it was already upon him. Heero brought his arms up over his chest as the monster threw a punch at him, knocking the Gundam pilot towards a tree.

By the time Heero regained his senses, the muscular monster that had forced him away from Compa pinned him against the tree with its helmet, attempting to crush the life out of the Perfect Soldier. Compa sat in the snow as she watched Heero slowly being crushed by the 'Gyuki', terrified of what would happen to him.

Heero saw the nurse-in-training sitting on the ground as he tried in vain to free himself from his current predicament, "What are you just sitting there for Compa?! Run!"

Compa shock her head as she stood up, her legs shaking from fear, "N-No! I can't leave you like this Heero!"

Blood began to trickle down the corner of Heero's mouth as the monster applied more force to crush him, "…I told you… that if we ever get into a situation where we cannot win that you have to run!"

Once again, Compa furiously shook her head, "How can you expect me to run when you're-"

"Damnit, just shut up and run!"

The first 'Gyuki' brought its axe down on Compa. The nurse-in-training narrowly evaded the axe's sharp blade and began to walk backwards as the monster approached her. Compa bumped into a tree after a few seconds and the 'Gyuki' was in front of her once more. The pink haired nurse was too scared to move, her eyes filled with fear.

Heero saw that unless something was done, Compa would die and he would follow shortly, "(Why? Why do I care what happens to her, Neptune or IF? Why do I not want to see her get hurt? …I don't want her to die …I won't let her die…!)"

A disk surrounded in binary code appeared in front of Heero as he had his attention fixed on Compa, "I refuse to let you die, Compa!"

The disk bathed the area in a bright light that forced both 'Gyuki' back. When it subsided, an armored figure stood in front of the tree. The figure was covered in royal blue armor that was borderline purple with white and yellow trim. A visor covered the upper half of the figures face while the lower the lower half was concealed by a metal face plate like those of the Gundams and two antennas protruded from the sides of the head.

Heero's vision was obscured by darkness for a brief moment before a green light filled his peripheral vision. In front of his face was a HUD that displayed numerous numerical values and other information, "What is this?!"

A female monotone voice resounded throughout the enclosed space Heero was in, "GENERATOR OUTPUT: 100%. T-LINK SYSTEM: OPERATIONAL. TESLA DRIVE: OPERATIONAL. WEAPONS SYSTEMS: NO ABNORMALITIES. SYSTEMS CHECK: COMPLETE. ALL SYSTEMS READY. PTX-EX EXBEIN, READY FOR COMBAT."

The Exbein's green visor lit up as Heero began to move it forward,"This is one of those 'Personal Troopers that resemble the Gundams. This Exbein seems to be outfitted with an Artificial Intelligence."

Heero redirected his attention to Compa, "…I will have to save Compa first."

The robotic female voice sounded off again, "RECOMMENDED WEAPONS: VULCAN, HANDHELD RIFLE, OR BEAM SABER."

As the Exbein's AI named off its weapons, their locations were identified on the small scale mech by a small display on the right side of Heero's visor, safe for the Handheld Rifle, which was to be transported to him for use via a sub-space storage system, "…Load ammunition into the Vulcans."

The visor flashed once more as the AI did as Heero requested. The moment the ammo for the Vulcans were loaded, an 'OK' signal appeared on the HUD in front of Heero. Two holes in the Exbein's head lit up as the Vulcan ammunition shot out of them towards the 'Gyuki' near Compa, punching holes in its hide and forcing it away from the pink haired nurse.

Once sufficient distance had been put between the monster and Compa, Heero grabbed one of the Beam Sabers mounted on the Exbein's backpack and charged at the monster. The large monster ran at Heero with its axe held above its head, obviously it did not like the lead shower Heero had given it and now wanted payback, "…Too slow."

Heero dodged the 'Gyuki's' axe swing and drove his Beam Saber across the monster torso, cutting it in half. After dealing with the first 'Gyuki', Heero turned his attention on the second one, "ONE TARGET REMAINING. RECOMMENDED ARMAMENT: ARMORED MODULE BOXER FRAME POWERED ARMOR."

"…If I remember correctly; the Boxer Frame gives the Exbein increased melee combat capabilities. Equip the Boxer Frame."

A large sword surrounded in binary code appeared in the sky and began to fall straight towards the Exbein. When it was fifteen feet away from the Personal Trooper, the sword split into two parts. The first part that landed on the Exbein's fell on its shoulders and looked like two larger arms with handles attached to them.

The second piece slid into place on the Exbein's legs, make them more bulky with additional armor. The battle against the 'Gyuki' up until this point had made Heero rely entirely on skill, but now with the Boxer Frame if it came down to brute force, the Exbein was at a clear advantage. The Boxer Frame gave it two larger arms for melee combat on top of additional armor so it could endure more damage.

With a powerful mech, incredible skill, and vast combat experience going for him, the battle had turned into a completely one sided fight for Heero, "…This should not take long. Let's finish this and leave."

The second 'Gyuki' wasted no time in charging at Heero with reckless abandon, "ENEMY COMBAT DATA UPDATED. RECOMMENDED MANUVERS: GEIST KNUCKLE."

Heero took ahold of the handles attached to the larger arms of the Boxer Frame and the right hand began to charge with energy. The energy was visible after a few seconds and Heero readied himself for the monsters attack, "…Your foolishness will result in your untimely death."

The Exbein threw its right arm out just at the 'Gyuki' swung its axe, the Personal Troopers' large fist broke through the axe's shaft and struck the monster in the torso, releasing the energy that had built up in it and forced the monster onto the frozen pond. The ice patch easily gave way to the monsters weight and Heero left it to turn into a monster Popsicle.

Heero returned his attention to Compa, who stared awe-struck at Heero, "Are you all right Compa?"

The nurse-in-training shook off her initial shock and slid down to the ground, "Yes… but I'm tired from everything that's happened."

A noise sounded through the air and grabbed Heero's attention. He heard a howling noise, "More of them?! Where are they?"

Heero slowly scanned the area for any monsters, he could see nothing but snow and trees. A panting noise drew closer and closer to Compa, and then a wolf-like monster, an 'Ice Fenrir' jumped out from behind a row of bushes nearby a bit Compa's exposed right thigh, eliciting a pained shriek from the nurse.

The Ice Fenrir looked like the 'Hot Dog' from the previous day, only it had a shimmering blue fur coat and its sharp claws were silver. Heero immediately turned around and saw the wolf-like monster trying to bite off Compa's leg, sending a glare as cold as death at the monster.

Heero quickly moved over to the monster and pried it jaws loose from Compa's leg before crushing it against the ground with the Exbein's arm and throwing it a tree, impaling it in the process. The Gundam pilot immediately turned his attention back to Compa to see her holding her thigh, "…Let me see your injury."

Compa slowly inched her hands away from her thigh to reveal the bite mark left by the 'Ice Fenrir'. The monster's teeth had pierced through the skin, the skin around the bite market turned blue and blood was seeping out of the teeth marks, "Can you stand?"

"I don't know, but I can try."

Heero stayed next to Compa as she attempted to stand back up. The nurse-in-training slowly stood up, but her right leg was in too much pain to stand to full length, "I-I'm sorry Heero. I can't get up."

The Perfect Soldier looked back down at Compa's injury, "…This isn't good."

(For added effect for next part play whatever music you like so long as it fits with the urgency of the situation).

Heero heard howling noises from within the forest, "…Our situation is quickly deteriorating."

The Gundam pilot knew that their situation was getting worse. No… Compa's was the one that went from bad to worse, "…I have to get Compa out of here, however the Boxer Frame renders the Exbein incapable of flight. How long will it take to drop the Armored Module and equip armament that can assist in flight capabilities?"

The AI quickly processed the command, and the time required to execute said command, "CONFIRMED. TIME REQUIRED TO PURGE BOXER FRAME ARMORED MODULE: 19 SECONDS. TIME REQUIRED TO EQUIP OPTIONAL FLIGHT PACK: 17 SECONDS WITH A 2 SECOND DELAY TO ADJUST SYSTEMS FOR FLIGHT PACK."

Heero grit his teeth at what the Exbein's AI had told him, "(…Dropping the combat frame and equipping the flight module times out at 38 seconds. Judging from the pitch and loudness of the howls, the enemy is 28 seconds out …10 seconds that something could happen to Compa.)"

The Exbein scooped up the pink haired nurse and began to walk towards a nearby tree. Two sides of the tree were surrounded by sharp, jagged rocks, one side was facing the frozen lake, and the other was unprotected. Heero lifted Compa up and set her down on a strong tree limb, "What are we going to do, Heero?"

Heero turned his back to the nurse-in-training, facing the narrow entrance to the clearing, "…You will sit in that tree until I tell you otherwise. I will hold off the enemy."

Compa stared at Heero in disbelief, "Can you really fight all of the monsters by yourself?"

"We are about to find out."

A pack of 'Ice Fenrir' slid into view. Their eyes were filled with an insatiable hunger as they fixed their gaze on Compa, drool fell from their jaws as they licked their lips at the tasty nurse sitting in the tree, "…If you want her, you must first go through me."

The pack of wolf-like monsters raced towards the tree that held Compa, disregarding the Exbein standing in front of it until the drew too close. Heero was quick to use the brute strength the Boxer Frame gave the Exbein to beat down the 'Ice Fenrir' that tried to get past him.

Wolf bodies flew across the clearing into the trees or into the rocky wall. The Exbein swat, punched, flattened, and stepped on the 'Ice Fenrir' as the came, those that were foolish enough to try and bite though the armor found themselves without teeth, then flung into tough bark or jagged rock with bone crushing force.

Heero had beaten down well over twenty of the wolf-like monsters, yet there were still more, "…How many of them are there?!"

After five minutes of fighting, Heero had brought the number of 'Ice Fenrir' down to just two. Both made a blind rush for Compa, their hunger for human getting the better of their judgment. The Exbein threw an energy charged fist into the first monster and tossed the second into the rocky wall as if it was a rag doll.

The 'Ice Fenrir' that received the Geist Knuckle was launched into a tree, knocking all of the snow of its leafs and piling on top of the dead monster, while the second 'Ice Fenrir' was twitching as it lay on the ground with most of its bone broken.

Just when Heero was about to pass the wolf-like monster as dead, the 'Ice Fenrir' released a pained howl that was answered by the howls of other wolf-like creatures in the distance. Heero peppered the dying wolf so as to silence its calls for help, "Damn… more are on their way."

The Exbein glanced over at Compa who was still in no condition to move, "I need a plan…"

More 'Ice Fenrir' entered the small clearing and of course, the first thing they saw was an injured Compa… a human lunch. Heero readied himself as the pack of vicious monsters came running, "…All I can do is hold out for now."

As Heero fought off the wave of monsters in front of him, two of the hungry wolfs attempted to sneak around the Exbein and claim the nurse as their food. Before they even got to climb the tree, two sets of gunshots rang out and struck the both monsters in the back of the head.

Heero turned to look at the dead monsters, then for what caused their untimely demise, "You certainly know how to have fun, Heero."

Neptune and IF stepped into the clearing, the proverbial silver lining in the dark cloud and Compa looked relieved to see them, "Nep-Nep! Iffy! I'm so glad to see you! How did you find us?"

IF stepped over the monster bodies that littered the clearing, "We saw a couple of guys running back to the town saying they saw a girl with big breasts and a robot fighting monsters here, so we kind of figured they were talking about you two."

Neptune's crystal blue eyes roamed over Heero's armored frame, "Though, Heero looks different than what we thought he would look like. I assume he gained another transformation?"

The Exbein's armored head nodded at the twin braided swordstress. The peace was short lived as more howling echoed throughout the dense snow covered forest. IF looked back at Compa, "What are you doing sitting there anyway? We have to leave, this area isn't very safe with all of the monsters nesting here."

Compa looked down at her leg, "I-I can't Iffy."

"Why not?"

Heero looked at the brunette out of the corner of the Exbein's visor, "Compa's right thigh was bitten by one of those creatures and she is in no condition to walk. I placed her in that tree as a temporary solution to protect her."

Neptune looked from the nurse-in-training to Heero, "You can fly can't you, Heero? Surely that would solve the problem."

"The Exbein's Boxer Frame improves its melee combat abilities, but renders it incapable of flight, and the frequency of the enemy's attacks leaves me with no time to purge the additional armor and equip the flight pack."

Neptune and IF now saw the situation Heero and Compa had been faced with; the party's nurse was out of commission until she could be given proper medical treatment, and they did not know how long Heero had been standing there protecting her from the onslaught of monster, "With the odds you've been fighting against, I'd say you could use some help."

Heero acknowledged Neptune's willingness to help and IF shrugged her shoulders, "Well, I guess we can't just leave Compa here to get eaten."

Compa looked ashamed, she believed that it was her fault that they were stuck fighting against seemingly impossible odds, "You guys shouldn't worry about me. Heero, you came to get the ore, right? Take it and go."

Heero felt guilty. He could have just said 'No' to Lady White Heart's request and they would not be in their current situation, but he just HAD to look at the benefits of completing the job without considering the danger involved, "Compa, it is my fault we are in this situation. I will not leave you here to die."

"But Heero…"

The Exbein's armored head turned to look at Compa, "I am reprioritizing my objectives. Obtaining the item can wait, YOU are what is important right now. Just as if Neptune or IF were to be in your condition, I will protect you with my life."

To say that Compa was touched would be an understatement as she looked as if she was about to cry, "Heero…"

IF had to avert her eyes from the armored Gundam pilot, her cheeks slowly turning red, "(There he goes, being Heero… even if it's a major turn on.)"

An invisible blush coated Neptune's cheeks, "I know I've said that I'm flattered that you would sacrifice yourself for me, but I would rather you not make good on it. You're my lover, I'm not going to let you die on me, Heero."

As with the two times before, a pack of hungry 'Ice Fenrir' entered the clearing looking for a human lunch. Neptune, Heero and IF prepared themselves for the wave of monsters, waiting for a chance to get Compa out of the tree and out of the dungeon. The three combatants fought off the monsters as they came, using everything they had to beat down the pack of 'Ice Fenrir'.

Even after defeating the large pack of monsters, more howling was heard from within the forest. IF looked down the narrow path leading into the clearing before looking back at the party, "Any of you guys have any ideas? We can't keep this up forever."

Neptune looked up at Compa, who was still sitting on the tree limb, "But unless we can get Compa down and put sufficient distance between ourselves and the monsters, there really isn't much we can do."

The Exbein's visor was showing the current status of the armor and its weapons, Heero was looking for anything that could control the HUD, "…It would helpful if this Personal Trooper had some means of magnifying the lens' range."

As it on command, the magnification of the Exbein's visor suddenly increased. Heero looked at the upper left corner of the HUD to see that the magnification of the visor was 5x, "(…I must have to give a command for each individual system.) Increase magnification."

The visor zoomed in once more, showing anything at a distance as if was up close. Heero could see the pack of 'Ice Fenrir' approaching down the narrow path that he and Compa had taken early to get where they were, "If I had a ranged weapon I could eliminate them before they reached us."

The voice of the Exbein's AI sounded throughout the it's armored head once more, "MINIMUM RANGE REQUIREMENTS CONFIRMED. RECOMMENDED WEAPON: FULL IMPACT CANNON."

The HUD displayed what exactly the Full Impact Cannon was, its power output, and effective range, "…This would solve our current dilemma. However, I will need the AM Gunner support craft if I am to use it."

"ACKNOWLEDGED. LAUNCHING ARMORED MODULE GUNNER SUPPORT CRAFT."

Overhead, a small fighter craft approaching the Exbein. It had a sleek, rounded nose and profile, four long barrel aimed forward, two on each side, and thrusters on mounted on its back.

Heero looked up at the fast approaching AM, "Even without flight capabilities the Exbein should still be able to reach AM Gunner."

The Exbein bent its armored legs and jumped high into the air towards the weapon that would turn the party's situation around. Once close enough, Heero could see two handles on the back of the support craft. The Exbein's larger arms grabbed onto the handles as it fell back towards the ground with the new weapon.

Upon hitting the ground Heero had to skid to a halt to properly use the weapon, kicking up snow as the Exbein came to a stop. Heero aimed the quad barreled weapon down the narrow path that the pack of 'Ice Fenrir' were approaching from, "Since it is a scaled down version of the original, the blast should not be too much of a problem. However…"

Heero glanced at Neptune and IF who were helping Compa out of the tree, "I will still protect them. Just in case."

Small purple orbs began to form at the end of each of the four barrels on the AM Gunner. Heero kept his aim steady as the monsters approached, "…Fifteen seconds until the Full Impact Cannon is ready to fire. I will have to be quick once it does."

Compa leaned on Neptune and IF for support, and then turned her attention to Heero, "What is Heero doing?"

Neptune looked over at the armored Gundam pilot and saw the weapon in his hands, "Knowing him, he's more than likely trying to save us."

The pack of hungry monsters kept running straight towards the Exbein, disregarding the weapon in its hands, "…100% charge confirmed. Disengaging safety."

When the Exbein squeezed the triggers on the support craft in its hands, four long, purple beams shot out towards the pack of monsters. The beams vaporized the back of wolfs that were already approaching and streaked towards the second pack of hungry wolfs that lay further behind.

When the Full Impact Cannon struck solid ground, a massive explosion ensued that kicked up a large cloud of snow which began to move in every direction. The Exbein tossed the AM Gunner aside where it disappeared in a flash of binary code, "Damn! The explosion was bigger than I thought it would be."

Heero turned around and ran straight for the trio of girls who were still standing in front of the tree supporting Compa. IF looked bug eyed as she saw Heero run right at them, "Wh-Wh-What are you doing Heero? You're not gonna run into us, are you?!"

The Exbein skid to a halt in front of the girls on one knee, pulling the girls in close as the cloud of snow came rushing towards them. The area was soon blanketed by a more snow with no sigh of life anywhere.

After five minutes of silence, the Exbein suddenly popped out of the ground with Neptune, Compa and IF. Aside from Compa's previous injury, the three girls appeared to be unharmed. Heero walked towards the vein of ore while Neptune brushed the snow off her braids and body suit, "That's twice that Heero has saved me. Perhaps I should do something special for him as a reward."

Compa was shaking from being neck deep in snow, "C-C-Can we g-g-go back to t-t-town now?"

The Exbein punched the rocky wall and when it withdrew its hand, it was holding a rock with white crystals embedded in it, "All of that trouble for this…"

IF poked her head out from behind the Exbein's right arm to see the ore, "You came here for this?"

Heero turned to face the three girls, "I would like to apologize for endangering your lives."

Neptune climbed up the Exbein's armored frame and sat on its right shoulder, "There's no need to apologize Heero. After all, you would do the same for us, you said so yourself."

IF lightly knocked on Heero's tough armor, "Besides, even though we're pretty girls, we can hold our own in a fight. So really, don't worry about it."

Compa climbed onto the Exbein's back, despite having some difficulty due to her injured leg, "You can carry us back to town Heero. We'll accept that as your apology."

For the first time Heero did not know what to say. They had been faced with a life or death situation mere moments ago, and these three girls were willing to forgive him just like that? "…It is a very small price to pay, considering that you could have lost your lives because of me."

Neptune gently ran her fingers over the top of Heero's armored head, "Don't dwell on it Heero. You said once before that even the best fighters stumble from time to time."

Heero gave a small smile as IF climbed onto his armored frame, despite the fact that it could not be seen, "How very wise…"

Once the trio of girls was comfortable, the Exbein marched through the partially destroyed forest back to town.

Xxx

After stopping by the Inn so Neptune, Compa and IF could turn in for the night, Heero went back to Entremets to deliver the rare ore to Lady White Heart.

After stating his business, Financier allowed the Gundam pilot into the CPU's room. The goddess was lying across her bed, reading yet another book. When Heero stepped into the room, the preteen goddess slipped a bookmark to hold her place in the book and sat up, "…I had a feeling you would come back today. I take it you have what I requested?"

Heero slipped his hand into his jacket pocket and pulled the glittering rock out, "…You don't disappoint, do you? You can just leave it there."

Lady White Heart pointed to a small table near one of the glass panels that made up the walls surrounding the room. When the object he had been sent out to retrieve was placed on the table, Heero turned back to the goddess, "…As for your reward. I couldn't think of anything to give you, so you may ask any one request of me."

Heero retreated into his thoughts, "(…I may request anything from Lady White Heart? It is limited to one request, so I must think carefully as to what I should use it on.)"

"…If you can't think of anything right now, you may leave and come back when you have figured out what you want. There's no expiration date on it, so you may come by and make your request whenever you feel like it. I may need you to do some favors for me in the future, just so you know."

Heero thought it best to save the one request he had received from the CPU of Lowee until he knew what to use it for. Heero turned to leave the room when Lady White Heart stopped him, "…Wait. One more thing."

The Perfect Soldier looked over his shoulder at the goddess, "Do you need something else from me?"

"…It's a rather odd question, but… when you think of the term 'Goddess' and you hear my voice; what do you think of?"

Heero was perplexed by Lady White Heart's question. As he thought of how to respond, an image of Neptune, Compa and IF suddenly came to mind, "…A young, beautiful woman."

The CPU choked for a moment, which prompted Heero to look back at the bed concealed by drapes, "Are you all right?"

"…I-I'm fine. You may leave now."

Heero did as he was asked, and when the door closed behind him Lady White Heart stepped out from behind the curtains that had concealed her form, her cheeks were coated a light pink, "…He certainly knows how to flatter a girl, doesn't he?"

Xxx

Me: (Enters ACCC) "Another Chapter done. I'd say we're making good progress."

Heero: (Walks into After Chapter Chat Corner) "I thought you were trying produce more updates for the story at a faster rate."

Me: "Well, yeah, but the reason why it took so long was because I wanted to gather as much info and material as I could on the Exbein Ka. Version."

Neptune: (Walks into ACCC with an ice cream cone in hand) "You mean that cool new transformation Heero got for this chapter?"

IF: (Enters After Chapter Chat Corner) "Personally, I think all of Heero's transformation look cool. But that's just me."

Compa: (Enters After Chapter Chat Corner with cotton candy in hand) "I really like the romance of the story.)"

Neptune: "Alrighty, I wrap up the chapter, and Heero and I can go and do the thing in private."

IF: "Who said you get to do either one?"

Neptune: (Grins) "The author man, who else?"

Me: "I said you could wrap up the chapter. Whether or not you get to 'do the thing' with Heero, now, that's up to you two. Leave me out of this."

Heero: "…I would rather she refrain from doing so."

Me: "Look, let's just wrap up the chapter so we can get to work on the next one."

Neptune: (Turns to readers) "Hiya, all you good readers. Read and review this chapter for us, since the author is workin' his butt off. Also, send him some messages telling him to hurry up and give me and Heero our M Rated scene."

Me: "Hey! No telling the readers that kind of crap! The last thing I need is for our readers to start sending me death threats unless I put our sexual content in early. We have to save it for later chapters or it won't be special." (Points to the exit of ACCC) "Now, let's get to work on the next chapter. For the sake of our readers!"

Me, Heero, Neptune, Compa and IF: (Leave After Chapter Chat Corner)


	14. Black vs White

Me: (Pacing around 'Intro Corner') "…Should I add this? …But then what about that one…?"

White Heart: (Walks into 'Intro Corner, sees Author pacing and stares) "…What are you doing?"

Me: "Oh, hey. Didn't see you come in Blanc. I'm pacing because it helps me think."

White Heart: "…What are you thinking about? Is it related to the story?"

Me: "Naturally. I just have so many ideas for it that I'm trying to sort them out and decide where they should go."

Black Heart: (Walks into 'Intro Corner' with script in hand) "Hey, I need to talk to you ab-" (Sees White Heart) "You?! What are you doing here?!"

White Heart: "Me? I came to handle the introduction. What the hell are YOU doing here?! Don't you have a shitty landmass to rule?!"

Black Heart: (Face turns red with anger) "Don't talk down to Lastation! I heard all about the crap you pulled, trying to steal Heero. Who do you think you are?! I should get rid of you right now so you can't steal him from me!"

White Heart: (Raises a questioning eyebrow) "Steal him from you? Are you trying to screw him or something? You're starting to turn into a horny bitch like Neptune."

Black Heart: (Face turns a darker shade of red and stammers) "N-No! Where would you get THAT idea?! I-I just said it because… H-Heero is really important to the story and I'm going to be the one who beats him. (…Though not in the way you think.)"

Me: (Looks off to the side of the 'Intro Corner') "Guys?"

White Heart: "…By that, you mean beat him to see who gets on top first in bed."

Black Heart: (Stammers) "Wh-Wh-What?! No! That's not what I mean at all!"

Me: "Uhh, guys?"

Black Heart and White Heart: (Look at Author) "WHAT?!"

Me: (Points to the side of 'Intro Corner')

Neptune, Compa and IF: (Silently glaring at Black Heart and White Heart)

Heero: (Silently watching the girls)

Neptune: "So… the two weird chicks are fighting over MY Destined Lover. Compa, Iffy, let's kick their butts!"

Compa: "Heero belongs to us!"

IF: "I don't think Heero necessarily belongs to anyone, but we won't give him up to either of you. (…He's mine!)"

Heero: "…I do not understand. Am I the cause of all this?"

Me: (Puts a hand on Heero's shoulder) "Heero, buddy, relish what you see before you. All of these lovely ladies are fighting over you, man!"

White Heart: "…I'm not fighting over anyone. I just came here to get more time in the introduction."

Black Heart: "Me too! I just wanted to help out with the intro. (I'm not giving Heero up to any of you!)"

Me: "Oh, damnit! Speaking of, let's get this little session of the 'Intro Corner' wrapped up people. We've got a disclaimer to read and a chapter to roll. Where's Gust?"

Gust: (Standing behind Author) "Gust is right here. Watched as everyone was about to fight. Gust should sell tickets next time."

Me: (Looks at cast of characters) "From the top everybody!"

Heero, Neptune, Compa, IF, Gust, Black Heart, and White Heart: "HeeroUzuki does not own Gundam Wing, Hyperdimension Neptunia, Super Robot Wars, or anything related to any of the three franchises."

Me: "Now, for the readers to read another chapter of our wacky story!"

Me, Heero, Neptune, Compa, IF, Gust, Black Heart, and White Heart: (Leave 'Intro Corner')

**Ch. 12 Black vs. White**

It was yet another snowy day in Lowee and the Sky Harbor was open again. The landmasses of Lastation and Lowee were passing by one another again, and were close enough to allow the Sky Harbor to open up once more.

A lone figure came out of the Sky Harbor and onto the snow filled landmass; the white haired swordstress; Black Heart, who the party had encountered numerous times while on Lastation.

The white haired beauty thoroughly scanned the area in front of the Sky Harbor, but all she could see were trees and snow, "They came this way… I'm sure of it."

The swordstress began to wade through the thick layer of snow on the ground, quickly becoming irritated by the abundance of the snow flakes, "There's so much snow, someone could trip! …I hope Neptune's tripped and hit her head."

Black Heart's thoughts began to shift towards a certain Perfect Soldier, "…I just hope Heero is all right."

The white haired swordstress stopped after realizing what she had said, "N-Not that I care about him or anything! It's just that Neptune is a real nuisance and Heero hasn't done anything to make him my enemy."

She grasped the object dangling from her neck, "If anything he…"

The swordstress violently shook her head, "…Stop thinking about Heero, Black Heart! You don't care about him! He's just a human! I-I only came here because I need to get rid of Neptune."

Black Heart began to push her index fingers together, "But… it would give me a good chance to ask Heero…"

Once more, the swordstress shook her head, "…No, no, no! I just told you to stop thinking about Heero, Black Heart! I mean, he's a really great guy and all, but I don't need to concern myself with him."

The teen furrowed her brow, "Of all the places he could have gone though, why did Heero come here? This is that little brat's landmass… It has to be Neptune's fault. She drags Heero all over the place and decided that she just had to come here."

The girl balled her hands into fists, "She may just ruin my chances…! I'll have to make good on my threat of teaching her discipline by my hand. And not just her! I'll get rid of Neptune while I'm here. Two birds with one stone."

The white haired girl continued along the path to Guild City with both Neptune and Heero on her mind.

Xxx

The party was walking through Guild City; taking a break from accepting job requests and trying to gather information on the whereabouts of the Key Fragment. While their recuperation was smooth, their information was anything but. The group still did not have any solid leads to go on and they were faced with random dungeon crawling as IF called it, problems that also ailed their search for the Key Fragment in Lastation.

While walking down one of the many city streets, Compa caught sight of a particular building that stood out from the others, "Oh, look! Is this a game store?"

Neptune peered through the store window, "Yeppers! Whoa, I ain't never seen games like this before!"

"This is called the Watch & Game. It's the original portable game."

Neptune looked down at the portable device as it played a demo of the game, "Everything about it is so retro and bleepy and bloopy. How d'ya play this dealie?"

Compa looked down at the Watch & Game, "Choose the difficulty… then choose either 'Game-1' or 'Game-2…' You can use this as a normal watch when not playing. It was the real start of an era."

Neptune back around with her hands behind her head, "Is it? Well, maybe back then it was pretty cool and stuff."

Compa turned her gaze on the preteen, "Now, Compa has a question for the new gaming fan!"

Neptune pumped her arms as she directed her attention to the pink haired nurse, "Ooh, yay! Bring it on, miniskirt!"

"Which product led to the invention of the Watch & Game? I'll buy you dinner and dessert if you get it right!"

Heero and IF watched Neptune and Compa's exchange on the question, "…This is waste of time."

IF looked up at the Gundam pilot, "Yeah. What are the odds that Nep will get it right?"

Neptune assumed her thinking position as she ponder Compa's question, "Hmmm, I dunno… I would guess a calculator, maybe…?"

Compa just stared at the purple haired amnesiac in front of her, "Wh-Wha…?!"

Neptune inclined her head at the nurse-in-training, "Huh? What's up?"

"…Ooh…"

IF looked from Compa, who began to walk away, to Neptune, "…Seems she didn't expect you to get it right."

Heero followed after Compa until he arrived at a small park. The pink haired nurse he had been following was sitting on a park bench, a bewildered look on her face. Heero walked over and sat next to Compa, "…I take it that you find it difficult to believe that Neptune actually answered your question with the correct answer."

Compa noticed the Gundam pilot sitting next to her, "Oh, Heero. Yes, I was surprised that Nep-Nep actually knew the answer. Looks like I owe her dinner and dessert."

Heero looked down at Compa's right leg, "How is your leg?"

The nurse-in-training looked down at what Heero was focusing his attention on; her thigh was wrapped with a bandage from the injury she had received from the previous day, "Its fine now. It only hurts every now and then, but it isn't too bad."

Compa suddenly felt and arm around her and found herself being pulled towards Heero, the pink haired nurse's head was resting on Heero's shoulder. Compa's cheeks began to turn a light pink, "H-Heero? Wh-What are you-"

"I'm sorry."

Compa looked at Heero's face, his eyes were cast down to the ground, "Were it not for me, you would not have been injured. You could have very well lost your life."

The nurse-in-training shifted to get into a slightly more comfortable position, "D-Don't worry about it Heero. You didn't know what would happen, it wasn't your fault."

Neptune and IF arrived at the park and saw Heero and Compa sitting on the bench… and how close Compa was to Heero, "Hey! What are you doing, Compa?! You scorin' point with Heero on me again?!"

IF balled her hands into fists, "We leave you alone for a minute, and you pull something like this?"

Compa waved her hands in front of herself in a defensive manner, "I-I'm not trying to do anything! H-Heero was just apologizing for what happened yesterday."

Neptune hopped into Heero's lap, slightly irritating the Perfect Soldier, "Are you still thinking about that? None of us died or anything, so just forget about it."

Heero looked at the preteen sitting on him, "We were in a dangerous situation because I chose to accept a request from Lady White Heart. Had I known of the danger involved, I would have told Compa to return to you."

IF took the remaining seat on the bench next to Heero, "But from what Compa told us, you were in danger yourself before you turned things around. If she hadn't been around we probably would have lost you, and we don't want that to happen."

The brunette averted her gaze from Heero and spoke in a near inaudible voice, "At least… I don't…"

IF felt an arm around her waist and found her head resting against Heero's left shoulder shortly after, causing her cheeks to burn, "Even so, I still believe it is appropriate to give some sort of apology for my decision."

Heero was in one of those rare moments that any red blooded man would kill to be in, he had a girl in each arm, and one more sitting in his lap. Men who passed by shot Heero dirty looks, but were warded off by one of Heero's glares.

IF shook off herself out of her daze and stood up, "W-We should get going. We need to go to the other end of the city, but its run by Extremists. Just so you know."

Neptune hopped out of Heero's lap and proceeded to pull on his arm, "Let's go find a really nice restaurant and you can feed me, lover."

Compa began to pull on Heero's other arm, though in the same direction, "That sound nice. Since we're… l-lovers, I'll feed you too, Heero."

Heero narrowed his eyes at the two girls, "We are not lovers."

IF suddenly began to push on Heero's back, "I suppose having someone feed me would be a nice change of pace, though I don't plan to make it a regular thing. (And I'll get to feed Heero.)"

Heero's words of protest fell on deaf ears as the girls continued to pull and push him towards their next destination.

Xxx

The party walked to the other side of the Guild City for another job request after their lunch break. Neptune looked around at the city that was identical to the one they had come from, "It looks the same, but it feels different. It's all tense. Is this the Extremist side of Guild City?"

IF rolled her eyes at the preteen, "Shut it! There are Extremists and Moderatists within the Guild. I'm a Moderatist."

Compa looked at the brunette with a slightly perplexed look on her face, "What's the difference between an Extremist and a Moderatist? They're both Guild members, right?"

"Simple. Moderatists focus on worshipping, while Extremists despise the other goddesses they don't believe in."

Compa looked at the ground for a moment to collect her thoughts before looking back at IF, "…What happens if you believe in a goddess they don't?"

"I hear you die. Get shot until your body's a fishing net, or they'll flame you on website forums for being a fanboy."

Heero raised a questioning eyebrow, "(I can understand getting shot, but what is this 'flame' that she is talking about?)"

A woman walked up to the party as they were conversing amongst themselves, "Are you cute little things here to fight monsters, or us? How brave of you! There are monsters in the forest ahead. They're pretty violent, so do whatever you want with them."

Neptune's cheeks began to swell as the woman passed by, "She was totally eyeing Heero up, I just know it!"

Compa was slightly peeved too, "She must want Heero for herself."

IF watched the Extremist as she went her merry way, "You don't know that. I'm sure she was just talking to us. (But if she was we're gonna have some serious problems.)"

Heero had his attention directed at the forest the Extremist had mentioned, "The mission area is not as far as I had originally thought. It would be best to finish our job, so that we may focus our efforts on locating the Key Fragment."

Little did the party know that they were being watched by a familiar face. Black Heart was watching the party from behind a bakery, her attention fixed on Neptune for the most part, "There she is. I can't just attack Neptune in plain sight, or I'll be attack by Heero and the other two…"

Black Heart's face softened as she directed her gaze to at Heero, "If anything… I don't want to fight Heero…"

Realizing what she had just said, the white haired teen violently shook her head, "N-Not that I care about him or anything. It's just that he's a human and he doesn't need to be caught up in our battle. The other two aren't worth mentioning."

At the same time that Black Heart was watching the party, the blue haired girl who had attacked the party was also watching them. She was unaware of the white haired girl's presence, as she was hiding behind a different building.

The axe wielder had her eyes trained on Neptune, "…There's that little bitch. I know I should be focusing on getting rid of her, but first…"

The blue haired girl narrowed her eyes at Heero, "…I'll have to deal with Heero first. If I can get him alone, then I won't have to worry about dealing with Neptune and her two other little friends. It won't be easy, but I should be able to beat him."

Black Heart and the mysterious axe wielder followed the party at a safe distance as they left for the forest, still unaware of the other's presence.

Xxx

The forest where the party's job request required them to be looked like every other forest the group had traversed on Lowee with the exception of its layout, though Heero had grown accustom to it. Neptune released an audible yawn, "I'm bored. Let's go and find the boss already."

IF looked up from the map of the forest that she held in her hands, "You have too little patience. We should plan how we're going to fight the boss carefully, not just charge in."

Neptune and Compa fell on their backs and began to make snow angels; Neptune's out of boredom, and Compa's for fun. Heero leaned on a tree, and IF sat on a rock while looking at the map of the dungeon.

Heero was about to fall asleep when the crashing sound of a tree hitting the ground drew his attention. Neptune sat up and looked around frantically, "What was that? Is there a really strong monster here?"

Compa hid behind a rock, poking her head out from behind it, "I-It's not going to come after us, is it?"

Heero ran further in to inspect the disturbance, with Neptune, Compa and IF following after him. When the party rounded the first corner of the dungeon, they saw a tree lying in the ground and monster underneath it.

Heero examined the fallen tree, while IF inspected the dead monster, "We've seen something like this before back on Lastation. What could have caused this?"

"The same thing that knocked over this tree."

The trio of girls looked at the tree Heero was examining. There were splinters of wood lying on the ground in front of the tree, and the tree was slightly uprooted. Compa looked at the jagged, pointed edges of broken wood on the stump, "Do you think a logger did this?"

The Gundam pilot shook his head, "From what I understand, civilians are incapable of fighting against the monsters. In the unlikely event that it was a mere logger, then the tree would not still be here. Also, it would take a normal person a number of swings to cut down a tree, whereas the evidence I have gathered indicates that who or whatever it was that cut down this tree did so with only one swing."

IF looked to see two other possible paths that the who or what Heero was talking about could have gone, as they had come from the third possible entrance to the clearing and nothing passed by them along the way, "So what are we going to do? There's someone or something else here that doesn't seem to be friendly with the environment or monsters."

Neptune had a bright gleam in her eyes as she pumped her arms, "We gotta find it then! If we beat it, we'll get tons of experience points! We might even be able to get it to join our party!"

Compa whole heartedly supported Neptune's idea, "Yes. The more people we have in our party, the easier it will be to fight monsters and save Gamindustri!"

Neptune and Compa followed one of the two paths that lead to another section of the dungeon, leaving Heero and IF behind. The brunette stared at the two girls as they disappeared down the path, "…Do you ever stop and say to yourself 'Wow, I can't believe I actually have to work with these two?'"

Heero looked down the path that both Neptune and Compa were following, "With Neptune, there really is no time to stop and think."

The Moderatist Guild member stuffed her hands into her jacket pockets, "Good point."

The two girls came back as quickly as they had left. Neptune latched onto Heero's arm, "I almost forgot to bring Heero with us. If we fight the guy who did this, we'll need my super strong Destined Lover."

IF rolled her eyes, "(I can't take this anymore!) Can you go five minutes without calling Heero your Destined Lover?"

Neptune grinned at the brunette, "Nope! There's nothing wrong with me calling Heero my lover, cause' it's true."

IF's inner chibi was kicking and screaming as the conversation went on, "There is a lot wrong with it! (I'm the one who should be calling him lover! Me!)"

Compa latched onto Heero's other arm, "Nep-Nep, Heero's my lover, too!"

IF's inner chibi gave the nurse-in-training the evil eye, "(I'll kill you in your sleep, you ditz!)"

Heero could swear that he was getting a headache that could kill a horse, "(…This is my fault for accepting Histoire's favor, but I will see this mission through to the end.) We should focus on completing the task at hand, which is eliminating the target."

After putting their little spat off, the party resumed their job of defeating monsters, with the boss as their primary objective. Heero kept his wits about him as the group ventured further into the dungeon, with an unknown individual or creature roaming the dungeon they could be attacked at any time.

A few of the monsters that the party came across while were already dead, killed with a single strike. When they arrived at the end of the forest, a rather strange monster… 'sitting' in front of the exit.

The monster was a 'Tadpole', though it looked nothing like one. It had two arm-like appendages, a 'tail' of some sort, and a large mouth, but its most distinguishing feature was it large blue, bulbous body. IF armed her Katars, keeping her gaze fixed on the monster before the party, "Looks pretty ugly."

Neptune stuck her tongue out at the monster, "It's REALLY ugly! Let's beat it up and get some food when we're done."

The purple haired preteen reached into her hoodie pocket and pulled out the Mech Sword Armas. The purple thermal saber shot out of the opening on the top of the handle, "This'll be over in no time!"

Neptune ran at the 'Tadpole' with her saber held overhead. Before she had a chance to land a single blow on the hideous monster, one of the 'Tadpole's' arm-like appendages grabbed Neptune's arm and held her up in the air. Neptune kicked and squirmed in an effort to break free of the monsters grip, "Let go of me you… you… thing! Or Heero will totally beat you up!"

Compa watched as Neptune tried to get free of the 'Tadpole', "Don't worry Nep-Nep, we'll help you!"

IF shook her head as she prepared to run at the monster, "Why do I even bother trying to come up with a plan when Nep is just going to charge right in?"

IF and Heero quickly closed in on the large monster while Compa stayed back and fired at it with her syringe. Despite their best efforts Heero, Compa and IF's attacks were not inflicting any real damage, "…We need to find its weak spot and exploit it."

The 'Tadpole' lifted Neptune higher and began to hold her by her legs. The preteen dropped her saber and began to flail her arms, "Get me down from here!"

Neptune snapped her fingers in realization, "I've got it! I'll just transform and beat on him till he let's go!"

The preteen's HDD disk appeared in a small flash of light, surrounded in binary code. The disk began to hover over the back of Neptune's hand as she pulled it over her chest, "I don't wanna, but I guess I gotta."

In the span of a few seconds Neptune goes from her bubbly preteen self to that of her stronger, calmer, more mature and observant self. The twin braided swordstress took one look at the monster that was attempting to restrain her, and then swiftly slashed the 'arm' that was holding her legs with her katana.

The 'Tadpole' released a shrill cry as it released Neptune. Instead of landing in the snow like she thought she would Neptune landed on top of something, then she heard Heero's voice, though it sounded slightly muffled, "…Neptune, get off me."

Neptune looked down to see that she was sitting on Heero, and as luck would have it his face in-between her legs, causing her face to noticeably redden, "Heero, how many times do I have to tell you that if you want to do… 'THAT' then we need to be alone and in bed before we can have our special moment together."

Heero narrowed his eyes at Neptune, "I do not intend to engage in any sexual activity of any kind with you."

"Then why are you trying to get between my legs?"

Heero attempted to lift Neptune off his torso, "…You fell on me."

Neptune closed her legs around Heero's head, her lips curved into a seductive smile, "So you say, but that raises the question: what were you doing right here?"

Heero was at a loss for words, he did not know how to respond to Neptune's question. The swordstress opened her legs and straddled Heero, her face mere millimeters away from his, "Why don't you just admit that you don't know how to keep your hands off me, Heero?"

A loud *Ahem* drew the attention of the two teens to IF, "What are you looking at?"

The brunette looked down at Neptune, suppressing the sudden urge to strangle her, "What are you doing?! We're in the middle of a battle!"

Neptune got off of the Gundam pilot, "I was just spending some time with Heero."

Compa was running away from the 'Tadpole' as it had begun to chase her, "Help me! I don't want to be a monster's lunch!"

Neptune and IF turned their attention to the nurse-in-training as she ran from the monster while Heero underwent one of his own transformations, "We really should help her."

Heero had finished his transformation into the Wing Gundam and aimed his Buster Rifle at the 'Tadpole'. A golden beam of thermal energy shot out and struck the ground in front of the monster, forcing it back, while launching Compa into the air. The pink haired nurse flailed her arms as if doing so would allow her to fly, "Wahhh!"

Heero holstered the Buster Rifle in-between the Wing Gundam's wings and held his arms out. Compa fell into the Gundam pilot's armored arms, the pink haired nurse looked up at Heero's masked face, "Whew, thank you Heero."

Heero set Compa down while IF was sizing up the large monster, now that the party was not having to worry about whether or not one of its members was going to be eaten, "Does anybody have any idea how we're going to beat this thing? I'm open to suggestions. O-Of course, I'm sure Heero already has a plan."

Heero scanned the 'Tadpole's' bulbous frame, looking for anything that would hint at the location of a weak point, "It has a tough hide, simply attacking it will get us nowhere. Therefore, I recommend a concentrated attack."

Neptune kept her gaze focused on the monster, "Where exactly are we going to attack then?"

The Perfect Soldier drew his beam saber out of the compartment on the shield, "The front. It is the most dangerous area to attack, however it is also the least suspected target. I will go first to create an opening, the rest is up to you three."

Neptune, Compa and IF readied themselves for their attack, waiting for Heero to make the first move. The thrusters along the Wing Gundam's back flared to life and Heero sped towards his target, "(Precision will be key to breaking the target's armor. Where I strike will be their target, so I must be careful with where I mark the enemy.)"

The Wing Gundam rapidly closed on the 'Tadpole', drawing closer and closer with each passing second. The Perfect Soldier was only a few feet away when he settled on his target area, "That should suffice."

Hero swung his Beam Saber at the 'Tadpole', the green thermal blade began to dig into the monster's hide. Heero's attack did not go all the way through the monster's tough hide though he had not intended for it to, as he spun around three hundred and sixty degrees and struck the monster with the sharp edge of his shield before striking with his Saber once more and continuing past the monster. Both attack hit the same location that he had struck the first time with deadly accuracy.

Even though Heero's attack was finished, the 'Tadpole' was not safe from the pain to come. Shortly after Heero had passed it, Neptune had launched her own attack on the monster. Her Katana had struck in the same location and with the same level of precision that all three of Heero's attacks had landed.

The swordstress juggled the monster into the air then slammed it into the ground with her sword, leaving a crater due to the force she used. IF had been waiting for the monster the moment it came back down after Neptune was finished with it.

IF delivered a swift kick to the same spot that Heero and Neptune had focused on. The 'Tadpole' tumbled backwards as result, the brunette did not let up as her Katars struck the already damaged area on the monster's hide. Both bladed weapons dug through the tough 'armor' and widened the growing injury.

After IF was done with the monster, Compa thrust her syringe into deep cut and fired a bullet as a finisher, "Shoot!"

The force of the bullet knocked the 'Tadpole' into a tree. The monster's hide began to crack open until it broke apart, revealing a pair white boxers with hearts sewn in. When the undergarments were exposed Heero thought he had heard someone scream, while IF's eyes noticeably widened, "Hello."

For a moment, Heero thought he saw Neptune's eye twitch, "I could have gone my whole life without having seen that."

Compa just stared at the monster, unsure of what to make of the situation, "So monsters where underwear, too?"

Heero grabbed the Buster Rifle holstered between the Wing Gundam's wings and fired at the now… 'Exposed' monster. A large explosion ensued that engulfed the 'Tadpole', reducing it to ash. The party put their weapons away now that the monster was gone, "That was certainly… different from our normal battles against boss monsters."

IF pulled her cell phone out of her pocket, "You think?"

Neptune looked around to find that Heero was missing, "Do either of you know where Heero went?"

Compa looked back towards the path the party had traveled to reach the monster, "Heero said he was going to check those monsters we saw that were already defeated. He didn't say why though."

IF looked up from her cell phone and at the pink haired nurse, "He's just being cautious. Do you know how much of a pain it would be if we ran into whatever it was that did all of that?"

Neptune took off after the Perfect Soldier, Compa and IF followed shortly after.

Xxx

Black Heart was scanning the section of the dungeon she was in, looking for something, "…I'm pretty sure they went this way. Did they go to a different dungeon?"

The white haired girl looked over her shoulder at a dead 'Rock Worm' that resembled the Sandworm monster with the exception of its hide, which was a black. The teen narrowed her eyes at the monster, "I've had to waste my time dealing with these things. They're probably what threw me off."

Black Heart heard a noise approaching and took cover behind a tree, "Another one? This landmass has a serious monster problem. At least Lastation doesn't have to worry as much about them."

The source of the noise eventually entered the clearing; the Wing Gundam. Heero reverted back to his normal human form as he crouched down to examine the dead monster. Black Heart slowly poked her head out from behind the tree to look at the Gundam pilot, "I knew I came the right way."

The teen girl continued to watch Heero, slowly slipping into a daze, "Heero is all alone. This would be a good time to ask him…"

Black Heart gently shook herself out of her daze, "T-To ask him what company he works for! Yeah, that's it."

The white haired teen took a deep breath and prepared to walk over to Heero, "What are you doing, Heero?"

Black Heart ducked back behind the tree the moment she heard the voice of another individual entering the small clearing. Neptune was soon seen standing behind Heero, "(Just great… Neptune had to show up. And wherever she is, the other two are right behind her.)"

"I am checking the area to make sure that who or whatever it was that killed these monsters is no longer in this area."

IF and Compa stepped into the clearing not long after Neptune, "It would be a real pain if we got ambushed on our way back to town."

Compa had a smile plastered on her face, "We don't have to worry about that. We have Nep-Nep and Heero."

"Maybe, but we can't expect them to take care of everything."

Heero stood back up as Compa and IF conversed amongst themselves, Neptune kept her gaze fixed on the Gundam pilot, "Has whatever done this left, or is it still here?"

"This monster died not too long ago and this is the path that leads back to Guild City. I assume that who or whatever it was that did this has already left."

"That's too bad. And I was looking forward to a good fight."

The tone of Neptune's voice suggested that she was disappointed. Unlike when she was her normal preteen self who was energetic, bubbly, always hungry and seemed to tell everyone and everything that Heero was her 'Destined Lover'; THIS Neptune seemed to be her opposite in a number of ways.

She was calm and observant, she didn't just blatantly charge into battle, she was not by any means helpless, she LOVED to fight, and while she still claimed that Heero was her Destined Lover, she did not flaunt it all over the place… though there was something about the way she looked at him every now and then that made her seem a little more possessive of him than when she was a preteen.

Heero turned his attention to the path in front of the party, "Our mission here has been completed. It would be best to return to the city for now."

Neptune stretched her arms above her head, "You'll get no argument here."

The twin braided swordstress began to circle around the Gundam pilot, a hint of mischief and seductiveness in her eyes, "…And maybe we can spend a little… quality time together when we get back to our room."

Compa grabbed onto Heero's left arm, her cheeks began to swell up, "Nep-Nep! You're cheating!"

Neptune grabbed Heero's other arm, narrowing her eyes at the nurse-in-training, "All's fair in love and war, and when it comes to my lover I'm not about to play nice or fair."

IF grabbed onto Heero's waist since Neptune and Compa were holding his arms, "Hey, I don't know what's gotten into you two, but Heero isn't an object you can fight over. (Because he's mine!)"

Black Heart watched as the trio of girls fought over Heero, the look of jealousy on her face was as plain as day, "I can't stand the way she gets to hold onto Heero like that! It makes me wanna hit her with a one thousand hit combo for massive damage. N-Not that I'm jealous or anything, I just don't want Neptune to get Heero involved."

The white haired teen left before the party found her. Along the way, she crossed paths with a certain blue haired girl who had also been looking for Neptune's party. The white haired teen took a step back in surprise, "You?! What are you doing here?!"

The axe wielding girl had not expected to run into anyone either, but shook off her initial surprise and narrowed her eyes at the swordstress, "…This is my landmass, what the hell are YOU doing in Lowee?! Don't you have a shitty landmass to get back to?!"

Black Heart was absolutely livid at the remark and stomped her foot on the ground, "Don't talk down to Lastation! A-Anyway, what I'm doing here is none of your business."

The blue haired girl brandished her axe, "The hell it is! I might as well get rid of you now and save myself the trouble later."

Wasting no time, the white haired swordstress readied her large sword in response, "Then let's go, right now! I'm getting sick of that mouth of yours."

Almost immediately following the drawing of her sword, the silent air of the forest was disturbed by the sound of clashing metal and gunshots. Both female combatants were locked in a stalemate throughout the fight, neither gaining any ground on the other, but not losing ground either.

After three minutes of fighting, both girls skid to a halt a few feet apart from one another and stared each other down. The tension in the air was thick, the only movements that either girl made was the in and out movements of their chests as they breathed. Snow continued to fall all around them, yet they kept their attention focused on the opponent before them.

The blue haired girl tightened her grip on her axe, "…I'll only ask one more time, bitch. What are you doing here in Lowee?"

Narrowing her eyes, Black Heart readied herself once more, "What's it to you why I'm here?"

"…It'll determine whether I kill you quick and painlessly, or slow and painfully."

The teen responded with a smirk, "Like I'd tell you. If you want to know, you'll have to defeat me first."

Just when it looked as though both girls were going to resume their battle, a figure jumped over a small hill of snow, "I knew there was someone else here, however I did not anticipate that there would be two individuals working together."

Both girls turned their attention to the newcomer who was none other than Heero. Neither one of them had expected the Gundam pilot to appear while they were fighting. Black Heart felt her cheeks begin to warm up, "Heero? D-Don't get the wrong idea, Heero! I have nothing to do with HER!"

The blue haired girl gave her full attention to the Perfect Soldier, "…This works out fine for me. I'll get rid of you both, starting with you!"

The young axe wielder charged right at Heero, completely disregarding the girl who she had been fighting not long ago. The girl's axe clashed with Heero's GN Sword causing sparks to fly in every direction, "…Nothing personal, but I've gotta kill you. I can't get rid of Neptune while you're around."

The young girl narrowed her eyes at the teenaged soldier, "…Then again, maybe it is personal. Who do you think you are getting between my legs, you bastard?!"

Heero glared at the girl who seemed intent on killing him, "You fell on me. I fail to see how I am responsible."

The fowl mouthed little girl growled at the soldier, "…Shut up! You're just some damn pervert who just happens to be that dumbass Neptune's bodyguard. Or should I say you WERE her bodyguard!"

With a burst of strength, the blue haired girl forced Heero back and prepared to follow up with a second attack, only to clash with Black Heart, "…Why are you getting in the way? I'll get to you in minute."

The swordstress forced the little girl back, glaring at her all the entire time, "If you want to get to Heero, you'll have to go through me first!"

The younger girl raised a questioning eyebrow, "…What? Why do you care what happens to him? Are you into him or something?"

Black Heart's cheeks began to burn a deep crimson, "What?! O-of course not! I just don't want to get him involved, that's all. Besides, you're supposed to be fighting me!"

Heero did not know what was going on between the two girls, or why Black Heart seemed to be protecting him despite her claim that it was so that he would not 'get involved', "(What exactly does she mean? Does it pertain to Neptune as well? It is possible… For now, I will just listen and see what I can gain in terms of information.)"

Just when it seemed as though both girls were about to begin their fight once more, the blue haired girl looked past the two teens and scowled, "…Shit, I took too long. I'll kill you next time, Heero. You too, bitch."

The young girl turned on her heels and ran away, leaving the two teens behind. Black Heart shouted at the fleeing girl, "You're just going to run away?! You're all talk!"

Heero turned his gaze on the white haired beauty, "…Why were you protecting me? I do not see what you possibly stand to gain from doing so."

Feeling Heero's eyes bear into her, Black Heart turned away from the Gundam pilot, "Wh-Who said I was protecting you? I just don't want any humans to get involved in our battle, that's all."

The Perfect Soldier closed the short distance between himself and the girl, "What do you mean? Are you not human as well? Or are you something else?"

"I-I… I can't tell you… at least not right now, but maybe someday. Not that want to or anything, it's just that you seem like you really want to know."

Heero raised a questioning eyebrow, "…Are you not going to tell me that I must first defeat you in order to obtain the information I want?"

It was very difficult for Black Heart to look at Heero, she was soon finding it difficult to breath as well, "Well, it's because… y-you're a different case. I despise Neptune and that brat… but you seem like a really nice guy. (…He's too good for Neptune.)"

The teenaged girl finally turned to face Heero though she did not look him in the eye, her cheeks were dark red and she was pushing her index fingers together, "…I-I have a question that I've been meaning to ask you."

Heero kept his attention fixed on the girl in front of him, "You are free to inquire, however I cannot guarantee that I will give you a satisfactory answer."

With a voice barely above a whisper and her gaze focused on the ground, Black Heart began to ask Heero her question, "…What are your… preferences in…"

Heero cupped the Black Heart's chin with his hand and directed her face towards his, "It is difficult for me to hear you when you are talking away from me and mumbling. Take a deep breath, and then ask your question again in a tone that I can hear."

Black Heart could feel her heart thumping against her chest. Heero had cupped her chin with his hand so that it would be easier for the girl to ask her question, but it was only making it even more difficult for her, "Uhh… umm… w-well… (I've seen something like this dozens of times in anime and manga. This is the part where the guy… k-kisses the girl…)"

Swallowing hard, the white haired swordstress tried to say something, anything at all, but found herself gasping for breath. Heero could see the teenager's cheeks growing more and more red, "Are you sick? Perhaps I should check your temperature."

Heero drew closer to the girl and pressed his forehead against her own. Black Heart began to feel faint from the closeness, "H…H-Heero… (H-He's so close… what should I do…?)"

While Heero was checking the girl's temperature, Black Heart slowly drew closer to Heero face, "(...A-Am I supposed to make the first move…? Or… is Heero supposed to…?)"

Heero exhaled as he examined the teen, Black Heart shuddered as the Gundam pilot's warm breath graced her exposed neck. Heero drew even closer to the girl as he checked her temperature, their faces barely a hair's width apart. Black Heart slowly closed her eyes, her heart was beating so fast she thought it was going to burst right out of her chest, "(…What are you waiting for…? …Go on… Just do it already, Heero…)"

Black Heart stood with baited breath, waiting anxiously for Heero to finish closing the distance. Unfortunately for her, while fate can bestow the greatest of blessings, it can also be a cruel bitch. As the white haired swordstress was about to take the initiative, Neptune's voice was heard close by, "Heero? Where are you?"

Heero pulled away from the swordstress, looking in the direction Neptune's voice originated, "…If Neptune sees you, it will lead to yet another misunderstanding."

Black Heart shook herself out of her daze, free of the spell over her mind, "…H-Huh? N-Neptune?"

The Gundam pilot returned his attention to the girl before him, "I will pretend that I did not see you, so now would be your best chance to leave before Neptune arrives."

Without uttering another word, the swordstress turned and ran. As she did so, her thoughts quickly returning to what had just transpired, "…What were you thinking, Black Heart?! I-I don't want Heero to kiss me! B-Besides, he was only checking my temperature. Yeah, that's it! I-It's not like we were going to kiss and make out like l-lovers or anything like that. A-Anyway, guess I'll just have to go after Neptune some other time."

Heero turned around just as Neptune, Compa and IF came out from behind a row of tall bushes, "There you are. What are you doing all the way over here, Heero?"

Intent on making good on his word, the Perfect Soldier quickly came up with a believable excuse for running ahead of the trio, "I had heard a strange noise and followed it, believing it would lead to the one who had killed the monsters. However, all I found were typical forest dwelling creatures."

The girls believed what Heero had said without giving it a second thought, "That aside, if our mission is complete it would be wise for us to return to the city."

The party began to make their way back to Guild City, occasionally getting into small spats on the topic of 'Heero's Lover' along the way.

Xxx

The party had little time to relax, as shortly after they had returned to the city they were given a bounty request from Lowee's Central Basilicom. Neptune, Heero, Compa and IF readied themselves and headed towards a forest where a nasty Troll had taken residence.

After waiting for a few minutes, Financier approached the party, "Hello. I'm here to represent the Basilicom and explain your bounty job."

The Basilicom employee looked over the party and noticed a certain change in the party, "…Not the usual four today, huh? Something's different… who's missing?"

Neptune did not see any of the party's members missing, "…It's in your head. Compa, Iffy, Heero and me. Everything's the same."

Financier looked at the purple haired swordstress, "…Are you the new one? That's right! Little Neptune is missing. Did she sleep in? Is she okay? Or did she get sick? Did she get knocked out of the party rotation? I get it. Monster fighting is serious. You shouldn't keep the weak links on your front line."

Compa rapidly shook her head, "N-No! This is Nep-Nep. It's kind of a long story, but she's transformed into her more developed self, so to speak."

Neptune did not seem to care, "Don't worry about it. Can you hurry up and explain the job? People are facing danger as we speak."

"Yes! The forest is infested with monsters. We'd like you to go clear them out. Some raid residential districts in search of food. It's starting to trouble the civilians."

IF folded her arms, "Sound like some ill-mannered monkeys. I bet their hunger doesn't even compare to the damage caused…"

Financier looked back and forth between Heero and Neptune, "I hope you don't mind me saying, but I think you two would make a really cute couple."

Neptune looked back at the Gundam pilot, a small smile on her beautiful face, "Yet another unbiased opinion on our love. Why don't you just accept the fact that we're meant to be together, Heero?"

Heero narrowed his eyes and turned his gaze on the Chamberlain, "Where exactly do you get the idea that we would make a 'cute couple?'"

"Well, you two seem a lot alike. You're both serious and you seem reliable."

The Guild member leaned towards Neptune, "Have you two… done 'IT' yet? The 'thing?'"

Neptune's arms encircled Heero's torso, her head resting on his shoulder, "No, but I plan to."

Financier left the party to return to the Basilicom, and Heero narrowed his eyes at Neptune, "Why must you insist on engaging in sexual activity with me despite the fact that I do not wish to take part in it?"

"Don't tell me the idea doesn't appeal to you, Heero."

IF did her best to maintain her composure, "(I want to kill her so much…) Let's focus on getting to the forest and taking care of the monster problem."

Xxx

The forest the party was in was like every other forest they had entered. Snow blanketed the ground and trees, large rocks dotted the ground, and colorful lights were hanging from the trees.

Neptune and Heero thoroughly scanned the entrance of the dungeon, silently watching for any sign of movement. Compa watched the two teens as they looked for monsters, "I feel so safe with Nep-Nep and Heero around. They're both really strong."

IF walked past the pink haired nurse, "But we can't leave everything up to them. We'll get soft and weak if we do."

The party advanced into the dungeon, Neptune and Heero still on constant alert. As the party rounded the first corner of the dungeon, Neptune glanced over to her left, "…Looks like we've got a welcoming committee."

Heero, Compa and IF looked to their left to see three monsters heading their way. Two of them were the plant-like Zephyranthes, and the third was a 'Rock Worm'.

Neptune brandished her Katana at the monsters, "Heero and I can take care of this. Compa, Iffy, you two can watch."

IF stomped her foot into the snow, irked that Neptune was telling her what to do, "Who died and made you leader? It will be faster if we all fight."

Heero armed his GN Sword, preparing himself for battle, "While we would be more than sufficient to deal with them, IF makes a valid point. The faster we deal with them, the sooner we can return to tracking the target."

Compa held her syringe in her hands, "I promise not to get in your way."

Neptune focused her attention on the group of monsters approaching them, "Well then, let's get this over with. They don't look like much of a challenge. Heero, we'll deal with the strongest enemy among them."

Neptune wanted to single out the strongest, which made the 'Rock Worm' her target. IF and Compa went after both of the plant monster, leaving Heero to help Neptune deal with the over-sized insect.

The Gundam pilot fired three shots from the GN Sword at the 'Rock Worm' as Neptune closed the distance to the monster… and fast. All three rounds of thermal energy struck the monster and created a thick pink cloud that reduced visibility, so the monster was unable to see Neptune jump over and land behind it, "Too slow."

The purple haired swordstress struck the 'Rock Worm' with her Katana, the attack had enough force behind it to propel towards Heero. The Perfect Soldier swung the large blade at the monster and knocked it right back towards Neptune, leading into a process of beating the monster back and forth between the two combatants, the attack gave the impression of a game of Ping-Pong.

After ten seconds of knocking the 'Rock Worm' back and forth, Neptune delivered one final powerful strike to the monster while shooting a look at Heero. The Perfect Soldier caught the swordstress looking at him and knew what she wanted by reading her eyes.

Instead of knocking the monster back, Heero stood his ground and waited for the oversized worm to slam into the blade of the GN Sword. The Gundam pilot braced himself, not for the monster, but the immense force that struck after the 'Rock Worm' rammed into Heero's sword.

The source of the intense power pushing against him was Neptune, her Katana began to cut through the 'Rock Worm's' hide. Just seconds after Neptune's sword cut into the monster the large insect was bisected by the two-sided attack, and Neptune was floating right behind Heero, "Like I said. Not much of a challenge at all."

As Heero was about to turn his attention to Compa and IF, the swordstress behind him wrapped her arms around his torso, "Why don't we leave Compa and Iffy to finish up and we spend a little alone time together?"

Heero could feel Neptune's chest against his back and a few of strands of her dark lilac hair tickled his skin, causing him to feel the strange sensation that had constantly plagued him since first meeting the girls.

Compa and IF had stopped fighting once they saw Neptune and Heero. A wave of jealousy swept over the two girls, which they turned on the two monsters before them.

As with a few other occasions, the nurse-in-training and Guild member dispatched with the Zephyranthes with merciless brutality that would make even harden warriors feel squeamish.

After the plant-like monsters were dealt with, Compa and IF stormed over to the two teens, "You know, you could have helped us. (Somebody stop me before I wring her neck!)"

"I could have… But I didn't feel like it. Not when I could spend that time with Heero."

Heero knew that if the trio were allowed to continue with this conversation it would drag out for a LONG time and they would make no progress at all, "Before you girls get too involved in this conversation, we should focus on completing our mission."

The three girls let the conversation drop and went on to decide which path they would follow. Compa looked down the left path where the monsters came from, "We should go this way."

IF cocked an eyebrow at the pink haired nurse, "Are you trying to get us lost? We should go right."

Neptune cleared her throat to get Compa and IF's attention, "Why don't we let Heero decide? He is pretty good at finding his way around a dungeon."

The two girls looked at one another and nodded in agreement, Heero did know how to navigate a dungeon without getting lost. Heero glanced both ways before turning down the right path, "It's this way. I can see the end of the other path from over here."

Compa quickly looked back at the left path way and her arms dangled at her sides, it was indeed a dead-end and could be seen from where the group was standing, "I should have looked more carefully… I can't impress Heero this way."

The party headed down the right path, as it was the only path that actually lead further into the dungeon. Along the way, the party discovered a few monsters that were already dead. The group stopped to investigate the monsters, as their previous request had monsters that had already been slain.

IF crouched down next to one of the dead monsters, "Looks like someone else has been through here. Is it the same person from our last job?"

Neptune looked over each individual monster, noting the method of death, "I don't think so. The way these monsters have been defeated is different from the ones during our job to clear out those monsters near the city."

Heero was impressed by Neptune's observation, "I commend your observational skills. Yes, these monsters were killed in a way similar to those from the other forest, the difference is the weapon used to kill them."

The three girls looked at the Perfect Soldier, "The weapon? You mean you can tell what kind of weapon did these monsters in?"

Heero gave a slight nod, "The monsters from before were killed almost instantaneously with a bladed weapon such as a sword, while these monsters were killed with a heavy weapon such as an axe."

The trio recalled the bodies of the monsters from their earlier job and compared them with the monsters in front of them, "So we've got two people running around killing monsters on Lowee. One's got a sword, the other has an axe. As long as we don't have to fight them, I doubt we'll have any problems."

Neptune was excited about meeting the mystery monster killers, "I hope we do fight them. I want to see what they're made of."

Heero stood back up, "Nevertheless, we should continue with our current assignment."

The party continued past the corpses of the dead monsters and headed deeper into the forest, constantly watching for any sign of the individual who had killed the monsters.

After a few minutes of trekking through the forest, the party eventually found the 'Troll' they had been sent to defeat. Like the Yeti, it was identical to the Jyaki, only its club had a piece of metal attached to it, the armor over its hands and feet were gold, and its skin and 'hair' were green.

Neptune poked her head out from behind the tree, "So what's the plan this time?"

Heero scanned the large monster, simply running up and fighting it would be a bad idea. The teenaged soldier scanned the area that the monster occupied, looking for anything that he could use to make the inevitable battle easier.

Heero noticed that the pathway was wider than the others that made up the dungeon, it was also fairly long. The Gundam pilot armed his GN Sword once more, "An ambush looks to be the most effective means of achieving victory."

Compa looked up at Heero while still hiding behind the tree, "How are you going to pull it off, Heero? The monster is all the way over there and we're all the way over here."

Heero briefly glanced at the nurse-in-training, "I will not be the one to execute the ambush. You three will."

The three girls just looked at Heero, Neptune inclined her head at the Gundam pilot, "…Run that by me again? You want US to ambush the monster?"

"Correct. I will lure the target to our current location. While its attention is focused on me, you will be able to strike at its blind spot without fear of retaliation."

IF looked back at the monster, "Just try not to get hit by that thing. Who knows how much damage you would take from that thing."

Heero respond with a nod, and walked out from behind the tree and into the wide pathway. The monster still had not noticed him yet, which worked out in Heero's favor, "(I don't expect my attacks to inflict much damage. As long as they get the targets attention, that's all that matters.)"

The blade of the GN Sword snapped back along the forearm to reveal the rifle barrel hidden behind it. Heero fired five shots at the 'Troll', all five blasts of high powered beam bolts struck the large monster and proved more than enough to get its attention.

As one could guess, the 'Troll' was furious after suffering through the string of beam rifle shots. The monster ran right for the Gundam pilot in a fit of rage, its club held over its head.

Heero deftly evaded the swings of the blunt weapon, further angering the already enraged creature, "(Almost there…)"

The Perfect Soldier slowly lured the monster back towards the tree where Neptune, Compa and IF were hiding, waiting to strike at the monster from behind. Heero was doing an excellent job of evading the monster's attack until he stumble on a rock behind him.

Heero recovered quickly before he fell, however he was not quick enough to evade the attack launched by the 'Troll' and braced himself for the attack. The force behind the club sent Heero straight into a tree and his senses became disoriented in the process.

Blood began to trickle down the corner of Heero's mouth as he sat against the tree that began to fall over from the impact, "(Damn… that attack caused too much damage to my lower back and left arm…)"

Fortunately for the teenaged soldier, he had lured the monster far enough that Neptune, Compa and IF could attack the 'Troll' without it noticing them. Neptune had already closed in on the unsuspecting monster, poised to strike, "…I'll make you regret that."

The purple haired teen's sword cut through the 'Troll's' hide with little resistance, Neptune used the momentum from her first attack to spin around in a full three hundred and sixty degree turn and deliver three more painful attacks with her Katana before jumping over the large monster and delivering a painful axe kick aimed directly at its face, sending the monster to the ground on its back.

After Neptune had sent the 'Troll' tumbling to the ground from her attack, IF was next in line to attack the off balance monster, "No one gets away with hitting Heero while I'M around! (I'll f &$ing kill you!)"

IF's Katars pierced through the tough skin around the monsters rib cage, inflicting fatal injuries in the process. The brunette fired three bullets into the center of the harsh wound she inflicted before jumping off of the monsters torso.

Just as IF had finished up her series of vicious attacks, Compa's syringe slammed into the 'Troll's' severely injured torso. The pink haired nurse's face suggested that she was very angry, "You're a… a… a big meanie! Hitting Heero like that!"

Compa fired several times into the creature's chest while the needle of her syringe was embedded in its torso. For a moment, Heero winced at the carnage before him, "(…I no longer think… I know that I am allergic to needles now.)"

When Compa was finished firing bullets into the monster she jumped off and rejoined Neptune and IF, but not before slapping the 'Troll' across the face with an audible *smack*. All three girls watched the monster intently, waiting to see if it would get back up.

After a full sixty seconds of waiting, the 'Troll' did not move. The party assumed that the monster was dead, "(…Why would it want to get back up? From what I've seen, these girls become quite vicious when upset.)"

When she was sure that the monster would not get back up, Compa and IF immediately ran over to Heero's side, "Are you alright Heero? Let me check your injuries."

"Didn't I say not to get hit? You're a mess!"

While Compa and IF were concerning themselves with Heero, Neptune was scanning the area, "…She's coming. I can feel it. This aura is similar to my own…!"

Heero looked at the swordstress, trying to decipher what she meant by 'She's coming.' The mysterious axe wielder that had attacked the party before suddenly came into view of the party seemingly out of nowhere, "…What a coincidence. We meet again. You'll not escape from me this time."

Compa's cheeks became slightly puffy and red, "How rude! It's not a coincidence. You've been stalking Nep-Nep this whole time!"

The blue haired girl off-handedly replied to the accusation as if she did not care, "…So? It's a figure of speech. Does it really matter? I wasn't fully prepared last time… bit it'll be different now. I'm not letting you go, Neptune."

The mystery girl noticed Heero, who had sustained a few injuries during the battle not more than a minute ago, "…Looks like your bodyguard isn't going to be a problem. He's already of no use to you in a battle."

Neptune narrowed her eyes at the blue haired girl, "If you must know, Heero was injured not long ago while helping us to defeat a monster."

"…So he screwed up and got himself hurt? Not a very good bodyguard if you ask me."

Within a fraction of a second Neptune was upon the axe wielding girl, the sound of clashing metal reverberated in the air. Neptune's sword was locked with blue haired girl's axe; obviously she didn't take too kindly to the little girl bad mouthing Heero. Neptune shot a glare at her, "…Take that back."

The mystery girl had a difficult time holding off the twin braided swordstress, "…Why don't you make me? If you can that is."

Neptune steadily applied more force behind her blade, "…Don't worry. I will."

With a sudden burst of strength, the twin braided teen forced the young axe wielder back a considerable distance. The blue haired girl had to readjust her grip on her weapon, "…Shit. How did she get so strong?"

As Neptune readied herself for the inevitable battle, Heero began to pick himself up off the ground. The Gundam pilot grunted as he fought through the pain in his lower back, Compa tried to get Heero to stop, "Don't move Heero, your back is hurt really badly."

IF attempted to get the teenaged soldier to stop when it became apparent that he would not listen to the pink haired nurse, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but listen to Compa for once. You're in no condition to fight."

Heero ignored the pleas of the two girls and stood up to his full height, "I cannot do that. I must complete my mission, no matter the cost to my person."

Neptune briefly glanced at the Gundam pilot over her shoulder, a tinge of concern was evident in her eyes, "…Don't over exert yourself for my sake, Heero. I can fight on my own if I have to."

Heero responded with a nod before directing his attention to the girl that seemed intent on both killing him and Neptune, "(For now, the best offensive option would be the Exbein due to its optional parts for varying combat situations.)"

Within seconds, the HDD disks with the image of the Personal Trooper that greatly resembled a Gundam appeared out in front of Heero, followed by a warm light. After the light subsided, the Exbein was standing where the Gundam pilot had been.

Upon seeing the teenaged soldier transform, the young axe wielder had an expression of disbelieve on her face, "…The hell is this?! He can transform?! Damnit all to hell!"

The Exbein's systems quickly came to life and immediately began to scan the combatants. The voice of the AI built into the Personal Trooper echoed in the enclosed head section after booting up, "ENEMY TARGET UTILIZES A BATTLE AXE FOR CLOSE RANGE COMBAT. USE CAUTION WHEN ENGAGING AT CLOSE RANGE. RECOMMENDED WEAPON: FANG SLASHER."

The Personal Trooper grabbed an object on its left arm that split apart to create a shuriken-like weapon, which Heero threw at the blue haired girl. The Fang Slasher struck the blade of the axe, slowly forcing the little girl back as the large shuriken continuously struck her weapon, "…I knew it was going to be hard to kill him, but this only makes it that much harder."

"So your trying to kill my Destined Lover, are you?"

The young girl looked over her shoulder to see Neptune right behind her, giving her a cold glare, "No one threatens Heero in front of me."

Neptune's sword slammed into the blue haired girl's back with a frightening amount of force, sending her crashing through a few trees and into a pile of snow. A few seconds after landing in the snow, the axe wielder burst out of the pile of white flakes, "That hurt! I'll make you pay for that, bitch!"

Neptune smirked at the enraged preteen, "You can try, though the end result will be the same."

With her anger skyrocketing, the axe wielder charged at the twin braided swordstress, "…I'll shove those words right down you're damn throat, shithead!"

The blue haired girl was so focused on going after Neptune that she had completely forgotten about Heero, Compa and IF in her blind fury. Heero fired multiple shots from his handheld rifle at the young axe wielder, while Compa fired her syringe.

As the blue haired girl began to weave and dodge the attacks, IF began to approach from her blind side, "You talk a big game, but you're so predictable."

The preteen had to stop to block IF's Katars, using the shaft of her axe to shield her from the blades. The brunette used a cleverly timed feint to put the blue haired girl off balance, then kicked her towards Neptune, "Don't screw this up!"

The purple haired teen delivered a powerful axe kick to the preteen, sending her into the ground, followed by multiple attacks from her Katana, ending with another forceful strike that sent her in the direction of Heero and Compa, "Heero, Compa, you're up."

Compa frantically looked from side to side before turning her gaze on Heero, "Wh-What should I do Heero?"

The Exbein's sensors and AI were running various scans and calculations over the course of the battle, "ENEMY TARGET IS CURRENTLY UNABLE TO UTILIZE PRIMARY WEAPON. RECOMMENDED COURSE OF ACTION: EQUIP FLIGHT PACK AND ENGAGE TARGET AT CLOSE RANGE."

A backpack appeared on the Exbein's back with four fixed metal wings attached to it, "Wait for my signal."

The thrusters along the Personal Trooper's back propelled the robot forward towards the blue haired girl, who had crashed into the ground and just started to pick herself up, "Is it possible to use individual components of the Boxer Frame?"

The Exbein's AI quickly processed Heero's question, "IT IS POSSIBLE TO UTILIZE INDIVIDUAL SECTIONS OF THE BOXER FRAME, HOWEVER DOING SO DOES NOT ALLOW FOR THE ADVANTAGES OF UTILIZING THE FULL FRAME."

"I will not need the full Armored Module for this battle. I only need both of the Boxer Frame's arms."

As per Heero's command, the Exbein's arms were outfitted with those of the Boxer Frame. The Gundam pilot reared his arm back as he closed in on the preteen, "(I cannot kill her… yet. I still need to know what exactly is causing her to come after Neptune, aside from the fact that Neptune is apparently one of the four goddesses of this world.)"

The fowl mouthed girl shook her head, as her senses had been slightly disoriented by Neptune's attack, "Damnit! You'll pay for that, you little-"

As the preteen was spewing off a few colorful words at Neptune, she turned her head and saw Heero heading straight for her; she grabbed her axe and swung it just as Heero threw one of the Boxer Frame's fists. Her plan would have been sound and possibly would have worked, however the larger mech arms easily forced the axe away and connected with the little girl's torso.

Without missing a beat, Heero grabbed the axe wielder by the leg just as she was about to fly off from the impact of the punch, and threw her towards Compa, "Compa, now!"

The nurse-in-training hurriedly lifted her syringe and frantically fired a storm of bullets at the airborne preteen without thinking. While the bullets only caused nicks and scratches on the little girl, it forced her to focus her attention on the immediate threat, "Little shit! Think you can beat me with your pathetic attacks?!"

"Compa's attack wasn't intended to beat you."

The axe wielder looked up to see Neptune hovering in the air above her, "…It was to make sure you didn't see this coming until it was too late."

Neptune was soon speeding towards the young girl, she was moving too fast to dodge or block the inevitable attack. The moment twin braided swordstress' blade made contact with the mystery girl's torso she was sent straight into the ground, kicking up a large cloud of snow in the process.

Heero, Compa and IF waited for any sign of moment as the thick cloud reduced their visibility. Neptune eventually jumped out of the snow cloud and skid to a halt in front of the party, giving Compa a reason to jump for joy, "Nep-Nep, you're okay! But what about the girl who attacked us?"

IF kept her gaze on the cloud as it began to dissipate, "She won't go down that easily, she's made that much clear."

When the white cloud finally dispersed the preteen was lying in the center of the small crater caused by Neptune's attack. The axe wielding girl picked herself up off the ground rather quickly considering that she had been dealt a considerable amount of damage, "…The hell?! This is the second… How could I lose?"

The mystery girl quickly turned to make her escape, "(…Must be because that Heero guy can also transform. Let's just hope he takes the bait.) …There'll always be next time."

IF had her arms folded as she watched the preteen run away, "She's persistent. Despite looking fragile, she's pretty tough."

Neptune had reverted to her normal form, having run out of energy, "We got tons of experience points for beating her. We should do it more often."

Intent on finding out why the blue haired girl was after Neptune, Heero gave chase in the Exbein. Neptune, Compa and IF followed after the Personal Trooper, though they could not move nearly as fast.

Xxx

In a section of the forest near the party, the white haired girl was walking away from a large group of monsters that she had just defeated. She walked deeper into the forest, obviously she had come looking for Neptune, as usual, "There are a lot of monsters here. I actually took some damage because of the number of monsters here. But there are so many of them here, then Neptune has got to be weak from fighting them."

The swordstress clenched her fists, "This is my best chances to get rid of Neptune and save Heero from her clutches. N-Not because I like him or anything, I just feel sorry for him. He has no choice but to do whatever she says."

Her thoughts began to shift towards the aforementioned teen who she had ran into earlier that day.

Xxx

_Black Heart had defeated Neptune and had one foot on the back of the defeat swordstress' head, a triumphant look on her face, "Take that, Neptune! I told you I would defeat you, and now I have."_

_Neptune was lying on the ground groaning, having been defeated by the white haired teen, "Black Heart."_

_The white haired swordstress turned around to see Heero approaching her. She kicked Neptune away so as to give the Gundam pilot her undivided attention, "H-Heero? What are you doing here?"_

_Heero took Black Heart's hands into his own, "I came here to see you. Words cannot express my gratitude for what you've done."_

_Black Heart looked away from the Perfect Soldier, "Well, I felt really bad for you. You had to follow Neptune around wherever she went against your will. I couldn't have that."_

"_Neptune aside, I have another mission that I wish to undertake. Allow me to be your bodyguard, Black Heart."_

_The white haired girl's cheeks began to heat up, "Y-You want to… be my bodyguard? Well of course! I-I mean if you really want to."_

_Heero pulled the swordstress in close, "You're the perfect woman, Black Heart. Neptune could never compare to you."_

"_O-Oh stop it. I-I'm not perfect."_

_Heero cupped Black Heart's chin with his hand and turned her face to look into her blue-green eyes, "You are in my eyes."_

_The white haired teenager felt her heart begin to beat faster as Heero drew closer, "Heero…"_

_Black Heart and Heero became oblivious of everything around them as they shared in a passionate kiss. Even Neptune had stopped moving as the two teens shared in their special moment._

Xxx

Black Heart was staring off into space as she stood daydreaming, her cheeks were a dark crimson, "…Yes, of course. You can guard MY body, Heero…"

Upon realizing what she was saying, the swordstress rapidly shook her head, "Wh-What am I saying?! I don't need Heero to protect me! I can take care of myself! Not that I would turn him down if he wanted to be my bodyguard or anything."

Black Heart heard a noise approaching and hid behind a tree, waiting to see what the source of the noise was. The Exbein stopped in the center of a clearing near the white haired girl, thoroughly scanning the area for the preteen, "Is that Heero? But that transformation looks different from his other one."

Heero was looking in every possible direction that the preteen could have gone, but his search turned up nothing, "Could she have gotten away? Or has she camouflaged herself to blend in with the sur-"

"…I've got you!"

The Exbein turned around to see the blue haired girl, and she was too close for Heero to dodge, block or counter. The axe the preteen had in her hands struck the torso of the Exbein with full force. The attack knocked Heero back, though he was able to correct himself with a one handed backhand spring.

Upon landing on its feet, the Exbein fell to one knee. Heero had already taken crippling damage during the battle against the 'Troll', and the attack he had just endured was pushing the limits of what endurance he still had in him, "The damage I have sustained has impaired my fighting capacity."

The young girl walked towards the Exbein as the AI's voice echoed inside the Personal Trooper's armored head, "ENERGY LEVELS: CRITICAL. ENTERING SAFE MODE TO PREVENT SUSTAINED ENERGY DRAIN ON MASTER UNIT."

The Exbein vanished in a bright flash of light, and Heero was on one knee where the robot had been. The blue haired girl smirked at the Gundam pilot now that she had him right where she wanted him, "…Looks like you're out of power. Tough shit for you."

Heero narrowed his eyes at the preteen, "If you are going to kill me, then get it over with."

The young girl readied her axe, "...Gladly. I will give you credit though. No human has ever made me work this hard for my victory."

The Perfect Soldier watched as the preteen prepared to swing, never averting his eyes for even a second. Just when it looked as though Heero really was going to die by the preteen's axe, sparks suddenly flew off in multiple directions before the Gundam pilot.

The blue haired girl grit her teeth at the one who stopped her attack on Heero, "…You bitch! You really know to piss me the hell off!"

Heero saw Black Heart standing in front of him, blocking the axe with her own sword, "This is why I can't stand you! You're always spewing out that foul language and you have no discipline whatsoever."

Black Heart forced the preteen back and readied her large sword. The young axe wielder tightened her grip on her axe, "…Do you know how hard I had to work just to bring his strength down this much? I'm not going to let you screw up my only chance of getting rid of the one thing that stands between me and finishing off Neptune!"

The white haired teenager briefly glanced over her shoulder to look at the Perfect Soldier, there were blood stains on the left arm and lower back section of his jacket which began to turn the snow red as the drops of red liquid fell to the ground.

Black Heart shot a glare at the little girl, "So it's YOUR fault that Heero is hurt?! I try to refrain from using such obscene language, but its go time, bitch! Right now! You and me! Let's go!"

"…Fine by me. As they say; business before pleasure."

Within the blink of an eye both girls had already begun fighting, sparks began to fly all over the clearing as their weapons clashed. They reached a stalemate and began to lock blades, attempting to force the other back, "…Why do you care about this one guy?! He's Neptune's bodyguard, so why are you protecting him?!"

Black Heart's cheeks turned a bright red, "What I do is none of your business, you damn brat!"

The swordstress forced the blue haired girl back, but just as quickly as she was pushed away, the axe wielder locked blades with Black Heart yet again, "This is my landmass! What goes on here is my business, you damn bitch!"

Both girls forced one another back, skidding to a halt a few feet away from one another. Heero was left to watch the battle due to his condition, "(Both of them have incurred a certain amount of injuries. They are equally matched in terms of strength and skill, however the girl with the sword has the advantage of height and reach. That could very well be the determining factor of this battle.)"

The preteen and Black Heart were preparing to use their more powerful abilities, when an explosion tossed them both in Heero's direction. Neptune, Compa and IF were walking out of the smoke created by the explosion, "See Iffy? I told ya something cool would happen if we fired our guns at the same time!"

IF was waving her arm around, trying to keep the smoke out of her eyes, "But was it really necessary?"

Compa was looking from side to side, "Nep-Nep, Iffy, you can talk about that later. We really need to fi-"

The nurse-in-training stopped in mid-sentence, prompting Neptune and IF to look at her, "What the matter, Compa?

Compa's eyes began to well up with tears as she extended her arm and pointed at what was in front of the trio. Neptune's jaw dropped, while IF's face began to turn red with anger.

Heero was lying on the ground with Black Heart and the preteen on top of him. Black Heart was kissing his cheek and was dangerously close to his lips, while the blue haired girl looked as though she was kissing Heero's neck.

As with many other similar situations during his time in Gamindustri, Heero didn't know how to respond to his current predicament. Black Heart's face was completely red as she pulled back from the Gundam pilot, her mind was trying to process what had just happened, "(O-Oh no! Heero must think I'm weird now!)"

The axe wielding preteen's face was just as red, but she quickly stood up and backed away from Heero, wiping her mouth as she did, "…Wh-What the hell?! I was trying to kill him and I end up kissing him?! My whole plan has gone to hell!"

The blue haired girl began to run away as fast as her legs would allow her. Neptune focused her attention on Black Heart, "That chick is here! And she's trying to steal Heero again! Compa, Iffy, Let's get her!"

The trio readied their weapons and had prepared to vent their anger on Black Heart, but Heero had gotten up in time to stop them, "Stop. Now."

Neptune stopped in front of Heero, her cheeks beginning to swell up as she began to pout, "But Heero! You're supposed to be my Destined Lover, and she's trying to steal you from me!"

A tear slid down Compa's cheek, "Nep-Nep is right… You're our lover, Heero. Y-You're not cheating on us with her, are you?"

IF could feel her anger beginning to boiling over with each passing second, "I don't care what's going on, but she's trying to steal our most important party member! (That bitch is trying to steal my man! It's time to put the hurt on her!)"

Heero released a tired sigh, today had been a LONG day for the Gundam pilot, "I am not 'cheating' on you with anyone. She saved my life."

Heero directed his attention to Black Heart, "Earlier, you said that you had a question you wished to ask me. If nothing else, I owe you an answer to your question."

The teenager steeled herself and attempted to ask Heero the question that she had been unable to ask earlier, "Well, the question is…. What are your… preferences in…"

The swordstress was having difficulty in asking her question yet again. She could not bring herself to look Heero in the eye, and her voice began to lower until it was just above a whisper. Heero cupped her chin yet again, and directed it so she would look at him straight in the eye, "Again, I cannot hear you when you look away from and mumble. Take a deep breath, and speak in a tone that I can hear."

As with before, Black Heart began to feel faint as Heero held her chin. She immediately blurted out a question to the Gundam pilot, "Wh-What are your preferences in video games? (Wait! That wasn't the question I wanted to ask! C-Calm down, Black Heart. This could work to your advantage! If you find out what kind of game Heero likes, you can try it and then you would have something to talk to Heero about!)"

Heero gave the girl a questioning look, "…That is what you wish to know?"

IF folded her arms, as she looked on, "That is a pretty good question. I don't think I've ever seen Heero play a video game before."

The girl's waited to hear Heero's answer to the question, "…While I do not require constant electronic stimulation like Neptune, I have tried playing, and have found strategy games to be my preferred genre."

Black Heart turned her back to the pilot, "I see… That's all I needed to ask. (For now.)"

The swordstress' eyes suddenly widened, as if she had remembered something important, "I almost forgot! I have t get back to the Sky Harbor so I can get back to Lastation, or I'll be stuck here until my landmass passes by again!"

Black Heart ran to find the nearest exit, leaving the party alone in the forest. Heero turned around in time to see Neptune throw her arms around his neck, "Heero, I'm hungry! Let's go back to the city and eat something. You can even feed me! Sounds great, huh?"

Compa gently grabbed onto Heero's uninjured arm, "Nep-Nep, we have to treat Heero wounds first."

IF gently pushed on the Gundam pilot's injured back, letting her head rest against it for a moment, "Compa's right, we don't want Heero to bleed to death on us, do we?"

Heero did not even attempt to protest as the girl's began to pull him along the path back to Guild City. He was too worn out from the events of the day to really do anything. The Perfect Soldier released another tired sigh, "(Another exhausting day, another event that leads to a big misunderstanding…)"

Xxx

Me: "Chapter 12… finally up. First, I would like to apologize… The sexual content is one thing, but I do not know whether or not to uncensor the F-Bomb. Review or send me a PM if you would like me to change this."

Heero: (Walks into ACCC) "I thought you were going to update the story sooner."

Neptune: (Enters ACCC behind Heero) "You getting' slow on us, Author man?"

Me: "Well, I've been sick and my internet connection was down, what was I supposed to do?"

IF: (Enters ACCC) "What did I tell you about getting sick?"

Compa: (Walks in after IF) "You need to take better care of yourself, Mr. Author."

Gust: (Pops out behind Compa and IF) "Gust will make good medicine for Author, if Author gives Gust bigger part in next chapter."

White Heart: (Walks up behind Author) "…That might explain why I haven't gotten to kick Neptune's ass yet. Stop getting sick."

Me: "Alright, alright, get off my case. Damn." (Pinches the bridge of his nose) "I'm starting to regret ever having gone outside yesterday, I probably wouldn't have gotten sick."

Black Heart: (Enters in from opposite side of ACCC) "So that's why we've haven't gotten the story updated. You know, you should stay inside if plan to work on it. You won't have to worry about getting sick if you do."

Heero: "This will undoubtedly cause the story to fall behind."

Neptune: "What? But that means it's gonna take longer to get to our M Rated scene!"

Black Heart: "Your M Rated scene? Please. Anyone else's M Rated scene would actually get us more reviews and comments. Yours would just scar our readers for life. (My M Rated scenes with Heero are just what we need to have our story become number one on this site.)"

Neptune: (Has her hands on her hips) "Please, my future M Rated scenes with Heero are what all of our readers are waiting for! They totally want to see me and Heero do the thing and be a real couple. We ARE Destined Lovers after all."

IF: "She does make a valid point. If Heero were to have an M Rated scene with any of the other cast members, this story's popularity would go through the roof. (In short, my M Rated scenes with Heero will make our story number one.)"

Compa: (Cheeks turn pink) "So even my M Rated scenes with Heero would make our story more popular?"

Gust: (Has a blank face) "Gust does not understand. Heero would have M Rated scene with Gust, despite age difference? Gust does not believe it."

White Heart: (Cheeks turn pink) "…Don't drag me into this. I'm not here to screw Heero like the rest of you; I just want to have more time in the story."

Me: "…This is starting to get real inappropriate real fast. Anyway, you guys can relax; I'm on Spring Break right now. I won't have to worry about going to school for about a week, that's a whole week I can devote to our story. Anyway, hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I apologize for the late update… again." (Points at Compa) "Compa, wrap this up for us."

Compa: (Gives a polite bow to readers) "Thank you for reading the chapter of our story. Please read and review, and tell Mr. Author to not get sick anymore."

Me: "…Cut that out. Or I won't give you an M Rated scene with Heero."

Compa: (Looks at Author in disbelief) "Wh-What? B-But you can't do that!"

Me: "I can and I will if you don't cut that out." (Points to exit of ACCC) "Let's get to work on the next Chapter, comrades. We've gotta make for lost time!"

Me, Heero, Neptune, Compa, IF, Gust, Black Heart, and White Heart: (Leave After Chapter Chat Corner)


	15. Bonus Chapter 3

Me: (Bows to readers) "Hello again, good readers. As I'm sure you are aware it has been 'some' time since my last update, and I have been unable to post my Bonus Chapters. I realize it is way past overdue, but I still want to give you our Easter Special."

Neptune: (Walks into IC with a basket in her hands) "Easter? You mean where people go out and look for candy? That sounds like fun! And I DO need more candy."

Me: (Shakes his head) "While that is the Easter we're taking about, that's not what I have in mind for this chapter."

Compa: (Enters IC from the Lounge) "So what are we doing for this chapter?"

IF: (Enters from Break Room) "Is it true that we're getting another Bonus Chapter? Is it gonna follow after the last BC?"

Black Heart: (Walks in from Lounge) "You mean that really mature chapter?"

Me: (Grins at the girls) "Of course, didn't you get a hint that that was going to be the case? Everybody LOVED that chapter."

Gust: (Stands behind Author) "Gust is still afraid of what Heero will do-"

Heero: (Standing behind Gust) "…You should be afraid."

Gust: (Face turns pale)

White Heart: (Walks into IC from Break Room) "…What's going on here?"

Me: "It's nothing. Heero, don't kill her. You've probably already scared her half to death. Now, let's wrap up the intro and get on with the chapter. I'm sure the readers are getting bored." (Points to cast) "From the everybody!"

Heero, Neptune, Compa, IF, Gust, Black Heart, and White Heart: "HeeroUzuki does not own Gundam Wing, Hyperdimension Neptunia, Super Robot Wars, or anything related to these franchises."

Me: "This gonna sound so much cooler when we have the entire cast here to say it. Now, let's go."

Me, Heero, Neptune, Compa, IF, Gust, Black Heart, and White Heart: (Leave Intro Corner)

**Bonus Chapter: Easter Special! Operation: Salvage Lost Love! (Seeing as how 'Operation: Give Chocolates to Heero and get a Kiss in Return!' didn't work out the way we planned.)**

It was another day on Lowee… and it goes without saying that it was just another day of many that was filled with snow, as usual. Neptune, Compa and IF were strolling through Guild City after yet another unsuccessful search for the Key Fragment.

The trio collapsed onto a park bench, tired both mentally and physically from their dungeon crawling, "You'd think we'd have found it by now. This kinda sucks."

IF stretched her arms over her head, "It's like I told you before, random dungeon crawling will only get us so far."

Compa looked around the park for their missing male party member, "Where do you think Heero went?"

IF winced before turning her attention to her cell phone, "Knowing him, he's probably trying to avoid us."

Neptune sank into her seat and released a sigh, "Is he still thinking about THAT? It was an accident!"

"Like I told you before you signed off on that form; you're plan probably could, and it DID, go horribly wrong."

Xxx

_Heero was in a moment that any man would killed to be in even if it was only once in their lifetimes. The Perfect Soldier was pinned to the bed with four beautiful, naked girls preparing to have their… M Rated scene with it him, though it did not take five trillion brain cells to figure out that they were trying to make love to the Gundam pilot._

_Neptune and Black Heart were holding his arms down while nibbling on his ears and removing his clothing from the waist up. Compa and IF kept his legs pinned and attempted to remove his jeans. And as one could guess, Heero was struggling the entire time._

_The girls were successful in removing his jacket and tanktop, but they were struggling to remove his pants, "If you stop moving Heero, we promise we'll make you feel good. REALLY good."_

_The teenaged soldier continued to struggle against the four girls, "…I do not want to feel 'really good'. I want you to let me go."_

_Black Heart traced Heero's lips with her tongue before giving the Gundam pilot a deep kiss, "You're just saying that because you've probably never had sex before. But we'll fix that, and then you won't want us to stop."_

_Neptune stopped nibbling on Heero's ear long enough to look at his face, "I had no intention of stopping."_

_The Perfect Soldier was only in his current predicament because the four girls had each eaten a piece of chocolate that had been created by the Item Synthesizer Gust._

_Compa and IF finally succeeded in unzipping Heero's jeans and pulled them down to reveal the boxers underneath, causing the four girls to look at the last article of clothing that kept them from their prize. IF's fingers slowly came up to the hem of the Perfect Soldier's underwear, "Just relax Heero. You're going to feel really good in a few minutes."_

_The brunette slowly began to tug on Heero's boxers, anxiously wanting to see Heero's member hidden underneath. Just when IF was about to finish pulling down the article of clothing, she stopped. Shortly after she did, Neptune, Compa and Black Heart stopped what they were doing as well._

_The four girls looked around, looking somewhat confused, "…What am I doing?"_

"_That is a very good question."_

_The quartet of girls looked down at Heero to see him with his chest exposed and his boxers slightly pulled down. Neptune moved close enough to block out the other three girls from Heero's peripheral vision, "Have you finally decided that you wanted to have our M Rated scene? I knew you would come around Heero."_

_Heero gave the purple haired swordstress an irritated look, "…No, you girls stripped off your clothes and then attempted to take mine off."_

_Compa paused for a moment, "We stripped off… our clothes?"_

_Neptune, Compa, IF and Black Heart slowly looked down, and sure enough they weren't wearing anything, causing their faces to turn a very dark shade of red. Compa, IF and Black Heart let out a shriek; having Heero see them naked was enough to make them die from embarrassment._

_Compa quickly scooped up her clothes and headed for the bathroom, "Th-This is so, embarrassing!"_

_IF grabbed her clothes and hid behind the kitchen counter, "I don't believe this!"_

_Black Heart swiftly grabbed her bodysuit and bolted out of the room, "Th-Th-This wasn't s-supposed to happen!"_

_Heero watched the three girls as they hid their exposed bodies from him, then noticed that Neptune had not moved, "…Why are you not getting dressed?"_

_Neptune lay down next to the Gundam pilot, playfully drawing shapes on his exposed torso with her finger, "…Well, I'm already naked and you're almost there, so why don't we go all the way?"_

"…_No."_

_The swordstress released a disappointed sigh, then blew into Heero's ear, "…Just remember that if you change your mind, all you have to do is ask."_

Xxx

IF grabbed onto a nearby lamppost and slowly began to squeeze on it until cracks started to form on it, "(…Five more minutes… had whatever happened to me lasted five more minutes, I could have died and left this world without an ounce of regret…!)"

Compa sat between Neptune and IF silently, waiting for either of the girls to say something, until the silence that was eating at her became too much to bear, "…What are we going to do? Heero must feel so violated after what happened. What if he doesn't want to stay with us?"

Neptune shot out of her seat and gave Compa a look of disbelief, "Wh-What? B-But Heero can't leave us! It's against the rules! A-And besides, Heero said that we're uber important to him and stuff!"

IF sank into her seat, "Heero may be rethinking that as we speak."

Neptune began to massage her temples in an attempt to help her think; she didn't like the idea of Heero leaving the party because of what had happened. The preteen suddenly stomped her foot on the ground, startling her two present party members, "Compa, Iffy, we need to patch things up with Heero, stat!"

The nurse-in-training looked at the party's energetic leader,recovering from the initial shock that Neptune had caused, "How will we do it though? I doubt that it's going to be that easy."

Neptune had her hands on her hips as she addressed the pink haired nurse, a look of determination on her face, "Which is why I've come up with a plan to get Heero to like us again."

IF speared her errant bangs with her fingers, "Here we go again…"

"I give you; Operation: Salvage Lost Love!"

IF knew that the last two plans that Neptune had come up with were intended to get Heero to kiss them, had ended with results that they had not expected, and were deemed failures by the brunette. IF felt it was time to put her foot down, "Before you go anywhere with this; I'm out. Don't bother asking me to help you with your stupid plan."

Neptune's arms fell to her sides, a bewildered expression on her face, "Why not? You gotta help Iffy!"

The Guild member shook her head, "No, I don't. Your plans up until now have ended in failure, and they usually involve trying to get a kiss or something from Heero."

The purple haired preteen began to flail her arms, "But we're not tryin' to get a kiss from Heero this time!"

IF gave the energetic girl a quizzical, "…I'll hear about this plan of yours, then I'll decide whether or not to believe you."

Neptune pulled the map of Guild City out of her hoodie pocket, "As I'm sure you two know, today is Easter. Now, what do people normally do on Easter?"

IF and Compa knew that Neptune had asked a rhetorical question, but went along with it to see where she was going with it, "They go on Easter Egg Hunts. Why do you ask?"

The preteens unraveled the map of Guild City and showed it to Compa and IF, "We're gonna have our own Easter Egg Hunt, but really we're gonna use it as our opportunity to talk to Heero about what happened! …Whatever it was that happened. We'll take Heero somewhere private one at a time and be all apologetic and stuff. He'll have to forgive us!"

Compa and IF were actually surprised with Neptune's plan; she said nothing about trying to kiss Heero or have an M Rated scene with him. Neptune actually sounded sincere and wanted nothing more than to apologize for the mishap, "Nep-Nep, that's so thoughtful. I'll help you! I need to apologize to Heero, too."

IF leaned back in her seat, "As long as we aren't trying to get into his pants or anything, I'll help."

Neptune smiled at the two girls, "I knew you girls would help! We're gonna need some eggs filled with candy to make it more believable."

With all three girls in on the plan, Neptune, Compa and IF set out to get eggs filled with candy to carry out Operation: Salvage Lost Love.

Xxx

After an hour of buying plastic eggs, candy, and placing said candy inside of the eggs, the trio was ready to start Operation: Salvage Lost Love. Their only problem was that they were unable to locate Heero, "Did either of you two happen to see Heero while we were getting all of this stuff?"

Neptune was carrying a basket full of eggs filled with candy. Her eyes darted around before stopping on the brunette, "Nope! But we gotta find him or- Oh wait, there he is."

Neptune pointed at towards the male that was the whole reason the three girls had decided to hold their 'Easter Egg Hunt'. The preteen tossed her basket at Compa, "Compa, hold these."

The pink haired nurse scrambled to catch the basket, while Neptune ran towards Heero, "What do you think the chances of Nep-Nep's plan actually working are, Iffy?"

IF folded her arms over her chest, "Slim to none, but that's just me."

The two girls watched as Neptune was talking to Heero. After what felt like hours of waiting; Neptune and Heero made their way over to Compa and IF, "He says he'll do it!"

Heero stood silently behind the party's energetic leader. Neptune huddled with Compa and IF, "Alright, we've got Heero to go along with this egg hunt of yours, now what do we do?"

"Isn't it obvious Iffy? We gotta place the eggs all over town so Heero's got something to look for. And while he does, we take turns apologizing and stuff."

As the three girls were having their pow-wow, Black Heart was observing the party from behind a stack of boxes, "…So, they're having an Easter Egg Hunt and using it as a cover so they can apologize to Heero about what happened."

Black Heart's cheeks turned a soft pink, "…Had whatever happened lasted a few more minutes, Heero and I would be…"

The swordstress shook her head, her cheeks turning a deep shade of crimson, "…D-Don't think about THAT Black Heart! You don't like him at all! Not one bit! …Not that I dislike him or anything, you're only here to apologize to Heero about what happened…. Whatever it was that happened that caused all of that."

Black Heart began to sneak away, so as not to alert the party of four of her presence.

"So we all know what to do, right?"

Compa and IF gave a slight nod to the purple haired preteen, "Then commence Operation: Salvage Lost Love!"

"Are you three done yet?"

Neptune, Compa and IF looked back at Heero, who was still waiting patiently, "Yeah, yeah, we're done. Now we just gotta find hiding places for our eggs full of sweet, tasty candy."

Neptune's mouth began to water as she thought about the sugary treats. IF snapped the preteen back to reality, "Get ahold of yourself! Remember what it is we're doing."

The preteen was forced to push the thought of candy aside, as she focused on the more pressing issue, "I gotta patch things up with my Destined Lover, this isn't the time to be thinking about candy. Compa, Iffy, let's hide our stuff."

With a simple nod the girls set about hiding their candy filled eggs in preparation for Operation: Salvage Lost Love. As the girls went about their task, the blue haired girl who had attacked the party was watching their movements, "…What the hell are they doing? Whatever. I just need to focus on getting rid of Heero."

Xxx

With the plastic eggs hidden all over Guild City, Neptune, Compa and IF were ready set the next phase of their plan in motion, "We gotta make sure that Heero finds one of the golden eggies at a time. Those eggs are in the private places I told you guys about."

IF lightly scratched the back of her head, "I'm still a little skeptical about this plan of yours. Do we have a contingency plan in place in case something goes wrong?"

Neptune's eyes were burning with fiery determination, "Nopers! But this plan isn't gonna fail Iffy! We're just tryin' to apologize to Heero, what could go wrong?"

The brunette crossed her arms, "I'm drawing on past experience when I say a LOT could go wrong."

The trio returned to the park to find Heero sitting on a bench with his eyes closed, almost like he was sleeping. As the girls drew closer, the Gundam pilot's eyes snapped open and focused on them, "…Are you finished?"

Neptune flashed Heero and grin followed by a thumbs up, "Yep! Now you have to go find the eggs Heero."

The Perfect Soldier stood up and made his way down one of the many streets of Guild City to find the eggs that Neptune, Compa and IF had hidden, not knowing that he was being watched by two other girls.

Heero's eyes darted all over the place, looking for anything that seemed out of place or that stood out. He found two eggs hidden in a bush… or rather, they were on top of the bush in plain sight, "…Neptune had to have hid these."

The Gundam pilot grabbed both eggs and stashed them into his jacket pocket. Shortly after he did, he saw a pink egg wedged in-between two signs near a bakery, and quickly picked it up. As Heero collected the eggs, he noticed that the majority of the ones he had found were not hidden very well and seemed to lead into an alley.

The trail of eggs ended with a gold egg that was placed on top of a barrel, "…This is almost too easy…"

"How's it goin', Heero?"

The Perfect Soldier swiftly turned around to see Neptune standing at the entrance of the alley, "…Did you even attempt to hide these?"

Neptune began to advance towards the teenaged soldier, her pace set to a slow stride. The preteen stopped right in front of Heero, "Say, Heero, I wanted to talk to you about something."

Heero was curious as to what the preteen wanted to talk to him about, "(It more than likely has something to do with that M Rated scene she keeps talking about.)"

Neptune took a deep breath in preparation for her apology, "I just wanted to say-"

"…I've got you now!"

Both Heero and Neptune looked up to see the mysterious axe wielding girl who had attacked them a number of times before. The young girl swung her large axe, barely missing the duo and leaving a crater in the ground where they had been.

The axe wielder directed her attention at Heero and Neptune once more, "…How convenient, I can deal with both of you here and now. It'll save me a lot of trouble in the long run."

Neptune stomped her foot on the ground, "You're ruining the moment! Get lost! I'll fight you later when I'm not busy!"

With her anger slowly building, the blue haired girl tightened her grip on her axe, "…The hell? You do nothing but piss around all of the time. What could possibly be so important that you would break that normally lazy lifestyle of yours?"

"…I'm leaving."

Neptune snapped her head back to see Heero leaving the alleyway, "W-Wait! Heero, you can't go yet!"

The Perfect Soldier disappeared behind the wall and from Neptune's sight. When the preteen turned her attention back to the mystery girl, she already had her HDD disk in her hand, her face red with anger. Even when she transformed, her eyes were narrowed into a deathly glare, "…You just HAD to ruin the moment, didn't you?"

A quizzical expression made its way onto the young girl's face, "…What moment? Whatever. That doesn't change the fact that I'm still going to get rid of you!"

Once again, the blue haired girl swung her axe at Neptune with the intention of hitting her. Unfortunately, as Heero's observations have proven, Neptune seemed to become more powerful when angered… even more so now that she had transformed. The swordstress stopped the axe with her free hand, taking the little girl by surprise, "…What the f-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Neptune slammed her sword into the young girl's torso and sent her right into the wall at the end of the alleyway. The mystery girl had only just begun to pick herself up off the ground when she found Neptune towering over her, the same cold look in her eyes, "…I'm going to make this as long and painful as possible."

Xxx

Heero resumed his search for the hidden plastic eggs after the short event that had transpired in the alleyway. Before he was out of ear shot, Heero was certain that he had heard the distinctive sound of wood breaking and the whining sound of steel being forcibly bent.

As the Gundam pilot approached one of the many parks that dotted Guild City, he caught sight of a particular young alchemist who appeared to be conducting business with one of her patrons, or rather she was finishing her transaction, "Here is potion, you owe Gust 490 Credits."

The customer paid the amount he owed for the concoction he had received from Gust and went about his marry way. When Gust turned to leave the park, she froze. The young synthesizer was looking directly at Heero.

Seconds passed that felt like hours, neither Heero nor Gust moved. After a few excruciatingly long seconds, Heero began to advance towards the young girl. Gust immediately turned around and began to run away from the teenaged soldier, which only prompted him to start running after her.

Gust looked over her shoulder from time to time, regretting doing so each time as she looked, Heero was quickly gaining on her. The alchemist rounded the corner of a store hoping she could find something to slow the Perfect Soldier down, when she caught sight of Black Heart, "Where could Heero have gone? I was sure he went this way..."

Gust ran past Black Heart and ducked into the alleyway behind her, Heero rounded the corner Gust had passed seconds ago, but lost sight of the little girl, "…She could not have gotten far."

Black Heart froze in place when the Gundam pilot came out from behind the corner, "(…H-He's here…)"

The white haired beauty felt her heart thump against her chest when Heero began to make his way towards her, "(…He's coming closer! Wh-What should I do?!)"

"Excuse me."

Black Heart was pulled from her thoughts by Heero's voice, "Did you see a little girl wearing a cap in the shape of a rabbit run through here?"

The swordstress was quickly able to identify just who it was that the Perfect Soldier was describing, "Y-You mean Gust? I didn't really see her, but I did notice someone run past me."

"…I see. Sorry to trouble you."

Heero continued past Black Heart who turned around in time to see the soldier disappear behind another building in his search for Gust, "…What are you doing, Black Heart?! You just missed your chance to apologize for the other day! Not that I want to or anything, I'd just have a guilty conscience if I didn't."

Black Heart ran in the direction the teenaged soldier had gone, while Gust came out of the alleyway, "Gust should be more careful. Heero could show up at any moment."

Xxx

"You lost him?! How could you lose sight of Heero?! Need I remind you why it is we agreed to help you with this?!"

IF was chewing out Neptune because she had strayed from the trio's original plan, "I told you I'm sorry Iffy! But that weird chick with the axe interrupted my super special apologetic moment! I had to beat her up!"

The brunette continued to vent on the party's leader, "And in the process you lost Heero!"

Compa watched as IF's anger continued to skyrocket, "Iffy, it isn't entirely Nep-Nep fault. That girl who's trying to steal Heero is just as responsible."

"Which is why I asked if we had a contingency plan! I knew something was going to happen, and it did. For all we know, Heero may have found the rest of the eggs by now!"

Compa scanned the park until she caught sight of Heero running through the entrance to the park, "Nep-Nep! Iffy! Heero is here!"

Neptune and IF immediately turned around to see the Gundam pilot, who appeared to be looking for something, "No more straying from the plan. We're doing this strictly to patch up things with Heero, got it? No getting into fights with chicks carrying axes."

Neptune sank into her seat and released an exasperated sigh, "Yeah, yeah, I got it."

Heero's search for Gust was yielding no success. With no other idea as to where the little girl could be, he resumed his previous task of searching for the eggs that Neptune, Compa and IF had placed around Guild City, "…She will have to show herself eventually if she wishes to sell her wares. Until then, I will continue with the previous mission."

As the Gundam pilot walked down yet another street, the trio of girls huddled together, "Alright, we now know that the girl carrying the axe is here… and that she ruined our first attempt at apologizing to Heero, right?"

Neptune and Compa nodded in response, "The meanie who likes to ruin other people's special apologetic moments!"

"Anyway… the way I see it, she's more than likely going to attack again. So I propose that while one of us is with Heero, the other two be on the lookout for that girl."

Compa inclined her head at the brunette, "What do we do if she gets past us?"

IF didn't want to believe it, but she had to acknowledge the fact that the mystery girl who had attacked them before could get past the two who would serve as lookouts, "Well, we'll just have to hope that the lookouts distract her long enough for us to explain things to Heero."

With their operation plan now revised and edited, the trio quickly followed after Heero in their attempt to patch up what they believed to be a damaged relationship between themselves and the Gundam pilot.

As they drew closer, their worries were assuaged when they found that Heero was still looking for the eggs they had hidden around Guild City, "Good, Heero hasn't found them all yet."

Compa looked from side to side at the two, "But whose turn is it to apologize to Heero?"

IF briefly glanced at Neptune out of the corner of her eye, "Neptune already went, meaning it's either you or me."

Neptune's cheeks slowly began to swell up, "But that chick ruined my chance of making up with Heero! That's not very fair!"

"Well it's your fault for screwing up. We'll have a game of rock-paper-scissors, first one to score wins."

The brunette and the nurse-in-training were quick to begin their game of rock-paper-scissors to decide who would attempt to patch up their relationship with Heero next. Compa and IF counted to three and threw down one of the three possible choices associated with the game, the result made IF hang her head, "…I knew I should have picked scissors."

The pink haired nurse could barely contain her joy from beating the Guild Member, "I better hurry and catch up to Heero. Make sure you girls watch out for that Nep-Nep stalker/Heero stealer!"

Compa followed after the Gundam pilot while Neptune and IF were left to look out for the mystery girl, "At least I get to go next."

IF came to an abrupt stop when she saw Black Heart walking down the street towards the intersection that both Heero and Compa were approaching. The brunette quickly guessed that the swordstress had saw Heero, as she had increased her stride, "Nep, looks like that girl with the axe isn't the only person we have to worry about."

Neptune caught sight of the teen whom they had run into more than a few times on Lastation, and during Valentine's Day, "She must be here to steal my Destined Lover! Iffy! We gotta go beat her up, quick!"

Both girls quickly moved to intercept Black Heart, not knowing that the mystery girl who they were supposed to be on the lookout for had bypassed them without their knowing.

Xxx

Black Heart was making her way towards Heero, her eyes darting from one location to the next as she advanced toward the teenaged soldier, "…Neptune has a weird habit of popping out of nowhere. For all I know she could come out-"

"Hold it right there, Destined Lover Stealer!"

The swordstress felt her eye twitch as Neptune and IF came out from behind a small crepe stand, "…Right now. What are you doing here? Are you here to get in my way again?"

IF folded her arms over her chest and eyed the white haired girl suspiciously, "Funny, that's just what we were going to ask you."

Neptune's lips curved into a big grin, "No I wasn't. I was gonna ask if anybody else was getting hungry! I know this awesome ramen shop where they sell these HUGE bowls of ramen and they're super cheap!"

IF and Black Heart stared at the purple haired preteen incredulously, "(How can she think of food at a time like this?!) Nep, focus! She's here to steal Heero!"

Upon remembering that Black Heart was in Lowee for Heero, Neptune began to flail her arms wildly, "Not cool! I told you that Heero was MY Destined Lover! Get your own, Man-stealer!"

The white haired beauty averted her eyes from the two girls before her, "I-I didn't come here to steal Heero! I just need to talk to him about something. Something that doesn't concern YOU!"

IF revealed her Katars, which were hidden in the long sleeves of her jacket, "I don't buy that for a second. You're here to take him from us like the last several times, you harpy!"

Black Heart looked past the two girls to see the blue haired girl making her way towards Heero, "Tch! I don't have time for you two!"

In the blink of an eye, Black Heart swung her large sword at IF. The brunette blocked the attack, but was forced back a considerable distance in the process, "Why you-"

"I have more important things to be doing than wasting my time on you!"

Black Heart shot past Neptune before the preteen had a chance to react, disappearing behind a building, "Hey! Get back here you!"

Neptune and IF ran after the teen, though when they rounded the corner of the building that she had disappeared behind, she was nowhere to be found, "She's faster than I thought. Still, it doesn't look like we'll have to worry about her going after Heero… for now."

The party's leader next to her looked from where they thought Black Heart had been and back to IF, her cheeks slowly swelling up, "But Iffy! She's still gonna try and steal Heero!"

"So? We'll just kick her ass right after-"

IF stopped in mid-sentence, remembering what, or rather WHO they were actually supposed to be looking out for, causing her face to turn pale, "I forgot, we're supposed to make sure that girl with the axe doesn't ruin things any more than she already has! Come on!"

Both girls ran off in search of Compa and Heero, hoping to reach them before the mystery girl did.

Xxx

Heero was approaching the end of the trail of plastic eggs, which stopped in front of a tree covered in snow. After a few seconds of carefully analyzing the park, the Gundam pilot found the golden egg at the foot of the tree, "…Compa or IF must have hidden this one."

"How is the Easter Egg Hunt, Heero?"

The Perfect Soldier looked over his shoulder to see Compa standing behind him, "…As I do not know how many eggs you have hidden, I am unable to determine when I will be finished."

Compa moved closer to the Gundam pilot, albeit nervously, "Heero… can I talk to you about something?"

Obviously, Heero was perplexed as to what the nurse-in-training would want to talk to him about, "So long as it is of relative importance, I see no reason why you cannot."

The nurse had her eyes cast down to the ground, "Well… I wanted to tell you that-"

"…You're dead!"

Heero saw the mystery girl approaching out of the corner of his eye. Heero jumped away from the tree as he was sure that he was her target, causing the young girl's axe to slam into the large tree. The tree limbs began to shake violently, causing the snow clinging to them to fall on the two girls below, burying them alive.

Heero stared at the large pile of snow for a minute before walking away. The mystery girl's head popped out of the snow, though the top of her head was still covered in frozen white flakes, "…How could I miss?"

"You're… so… mean…"

The young girl looked to her right to see Compa, gritting her teeth in anger, "…What do you want? I'm bu-"

"I want you to go away!"

In a fit of rage, Compa threw a punch that connected with the blue haired girl's stomach. The nurse-in-training put so much force behind it that it sent the axe wielder through three houses, "Why did you have to ruin everything?!"

Neptune and IF arrived in the park to find Compa sitting in the snow with her legs tucked in, "Hey, Compa, you okay?"

The pink haired nurse looked up, her eyes were welling up with tears and her lips were quivering, "Nep-Nep… Iffy… where were you?"

IF pieced together Compa's current state along with their tardiness and came to one conclusion, "She… interfered with your apology, huh?"

Compa suddenly grabbed ahold of IF by her jacket and violently shook the Guild member, "What do you think happened?! You and Nep-Nep were supposed to make sure that she DIDN'T ruin my apologetic moment! You suck at your job Iffy!"

IF was tossed into the snow, meanwhile Neptune was left to watch, "We should go beat up the special moment ruining jerk!"

Before Neptune and Compa could run off, IF quickly stood back up, "No, no, no! If we do that, the other girl could come in and steal Heero while we're dealing with her."

Both girls froze in place; they had to worry about TWO people trying to steal Heero, "What are we supposed to do then? We got two chicks that wanna steal my lover!"

"Nep-Nep, Heero is my lover, too!"

IF released a tired sigh as she listened to the two girls, "(Why do I put up with these two again? …Oh right, because Heero is too good for them. AND he would lose his sanity if left alone with them.) All we can do right now is follow the plan and watch out for those two. Now, it's my turn to talk to Heero, so just try and focus on keeping them distracted long enough for me to get this over with."

"But Iffy-"

IF quickly silenced the preteen, "No buts. You'll get a chance later… provided that those two girls don't ruin everything."

Once more, the trio set out to find Heero and continue with their plan to apologize to the Gundam pilot, knowing full well that with the two mystery girls around that what was to be a simple apology had become a daunting task.

Xxx

Heero silently scanned the street for the eggs that Neptune, Compa and IF had hidden, stopping to pick them up when he came across them, then continued down the street, "This has proven to be a relatively easy task."

Unbenounced to Heero, Black Heart was quickly approaching him, having caught sight of him, "(I don't see Neptune or that brat… Now is my best chance.)"

With every passing second Black Heart increased her pace, quickly gaining on Heero since he was at a walking pace. Black Heart could feel her heart beat faster as she drew closer to the Perfect Soldier, "(What do I say, though?! I can't just walk up to him and tell him I'm sorry about what happened… whatever it was that happened.)"

Black Heart was a few feet away from Heero when she suddenly slammed into an object, falling to the ground in the process, "What the-"

"…Damnit, that hurt! Watch where you're going, dumbass!"

The white haired teen looked to see who it was that she ran into, it was the blue haired girl that had been chasing Heero the whole day, "Wha- You?! What are you doing here?!"

"What do you think, shit for brains?! This is my landmass! And I'm here to kill Heero."

Black Heart immediately stood up, infuriated that the axe wielder was still making an attempt on Heero's life, "Would you just leave Heero alone already?! It's clear to me that you can't kill him. And he's a human!"

The little girl brandished her large axe, "…Why do you care about him so much? He's just a human, as you say. Don't tell me… you're turning into a horny bitch like Neptune because of him?"

Black Heart cheeks were flushed and she clenched her fists, "D-Don't be stupid! I don't like Heero! N-Not that I don't like him… just not in that way!"

"…Then WHY are you protecting him? I expected Neptune to turn out this way, but you? I expected more out of you. You're probably just trying to get into his pants or something… or do you want him to bend you over?"

Within a fraction of a second the swordstress had launched an attack at the blue haired girl with her large sword, her cheeks a deep crimson, "Sh-Shut up! I'm not into Heero or anything like that! …It's pointless trying to talk any sense into that thick skull of yours, so I guess I'll have to beat it into you!"

"…That's my line, bitch!"

"Wrong! That's OUR line!"

Forgetting who they were dealing with for a moment, Black Heart and the mystery girl turned in the direction of the person who had just spoken, "Don't tell me…"

Neptune and Compa were standing in the middle of the street across from the two girls, "We know allll about what you two are doing here, and let me tell you now, sisters! I won't give you MY Heero!"

Compa's cheeks puffed up slightly, "You mean OUR Heero, right, Nep-Nep?"

The blue haired girl flashed an irritated look at the Neptune, "…Neptune, the hell are you doing here?"

With her hands on her hips, the purple haired preteen leaned forward slightly, "I'm here to kick your butt, little missy!"

"…You think YOU can beat ME? That's the biggest load of shit you've ever spouted off before!"

Compa stomped her foot on the ground, "We don't think we can beat you, we KNOW we can defeat you! We'll never give Heero to either of you!"

Both girls took a step back, "Wh-What are you talking about?!"

Neptune advanced closer on Black Heart and the mystery girl as they backed away, unable to explain why they felt intimidated by the preteen, "Don't play dumb with us! You guys are getting' together to steal Heero from us, you bunch of Destined Lover-Stealers!"

Suffice it to say, both girl's faces were red from the accusation, "…The hell?! I-I'm not here to steal Heero! I'm trying to kill him!"

Once more, the preteen advanced towards the two girls, "Ha! You can't fool me! You're trying to steal Heero cause you're uber jealous that he's my Destined Lover!"

The blue haired girl directed her attention to the individual who she had been following for the majority of the day; Heero. The Perfect Soldier walked down another street as he continued on with his task of gathering the Easter eggs that the girls had hid around Guild City, "…I don't have time for this! Outta my way, dumbass!"

Just as the young axe wielder was about to charge in the direction that Heero had gone, an unseen force knocked her straight to the ground. When she looked up, Neptune was looming over her, already in her transformed state, "If you want Heero, you will have to defeat me, first."

Shaking her head, the blue haired girl grabbed her axe and charged at Neptune, "…You're pissing me, you bitch! I won't stop at beating you, I'll crush you along with that over inflated ego!"

In her blind rage, the young girl had almost forgotten about Compa. The nurse-in-training fired a few short bursts of bullets at the violent girl, causing her to back away to avoid getting hit, "Don't forget, I'm here to protect Heero, too!"

"Why you little-"

"Pay attention to who you're fighting."

Between having to deal with Neptune and Compa, the little girl was struggling to keep up with them and their close knit teamwork. When Neptune took a swing at her, Compa would fire at the young girl's blind spot. When Compa initiated the attack, Neptune was quick to close the distance.

While the three girls were fighting, Black Heart noticed that they had all but forgotten about her, "(…This is my best chance to go after Heero. As much as I'd enjoy watching them kill each other, I have more important business to attend to.)"

The white haired teen quickly evacuated the area before any of the three girls caught on to what she was planning, leaving the three to continue their battle.

Xxx

The teenaged soldier was still searching for the small plastic eggs that had been scattered around the city, though it was becoming increasingly difficult to locate them, "…This must be IF's work. I will commend her on her efforts, however, I will locate the remaining objects before long."

Once again, Heero followed the trail of eggs to another less populated area, a small park with a lake nearby that was frozen due to the cold weather. The trailed ended with a gold colored egg, "How many does that make?"

The lone male member of the party quickly turned around to see IF standing a few feet away from him, "I have located the majority of the plastic eggs you, Neptune and Compa have hidden. I am almost finished with the mission."

"I see…"

IF slowly advanced towards Heero, "Listen, there's something I've been meaning to talk to you about… but I couldn't find an appropriate time."

"You are free to inquire. I will answer whatever you wish to ask to the best of my ability."

As she drew closer, IF's cheeks slowly beginning to heat up, and her heart began to beat faster, "(…Okay IF, you're just going to apologize for what happened… whatever it was that happened. Take a deep breath and tell him.)"

The Guild member took a deep breath, and then exhaled after what took mere seconds seemed like hours. Before she could get a single syllable out, however, Black Heart came out from behind a tree, "Where is he-"

The swordstress stopped when she saw Heero and IF, though she completely disregarded IF's presence, focusing all of her attention on Heero, "O-Oh, there you are."

Heero turned towards Black Heart, "I take it that you have been looking for me?"

"Y-Yeah… I needed to talk to you about something. Not that it's important or anything, I just needed to let it out, that's all."

As Heero and Black Heart were conversing, IF was seething behind Heero, "(Damnit all! Where are those two?! They were supposed to make sure that neither that little girl or this… bitch came and ruined everything!)"

The brunette gnashed her teethed and balled her hands into fists, Black Heart currently had Heero's undivided attention and didn't seem willing to give it up anytime soon. The beautiful teen shuffled slightly, finding it slightly difficult to look Heero in the eye, "…So… umm… wh-what I wanted to… t-talk to you about was…"

Heero cupped Black Heart's chin with one of his hands and directed her face so she would look him in the eye, "…I still find it difficult to understand what you are trying to say when you do not speak up."

By now, IF had gone past her boiling point, her Inner Chibi now raising hell, "(What are you doing standing there, IF?! That bitch is trying to steal your man! Get over there and murder her! Or at the very least, maim her!)"

With murderous intent in her eyes, IF stomped towards Heero and Black Heart, "Murdering this bitch would be an act of mercy…"

Just as IF was about to reveal her Katars, a loud explosion rang out that drew the trio's attention. A large blanket of snow was quickly descending towards the group of three. Heero took refuge behind the nearby tree, while IF and Black Heart stood in place. Unsure of what to make of what was going on, "What in th-"

The thick cloud of snow came crashing down on the two girls, effectively covering them with the white flakes from head to toe. IF emerged out of the pile of snow, shaking her head so the flakes resting in her hair would fall off, "Where did all of this snow come from?"

Shortly after IF emerged from the snow, Neptune and Compa popped out, "Compa, didn't I tell you not to shoot? There was a warehouse with a sign on it that said 'Explosive Compounds.'"

"I'm sorry Nep-Nep, I guess I was too focused and defeating that girl so she wouldn't steal Heero."

Neptune stood up and dusted the snow off of her suit, then noticed IF, who was still neck deep in snow, "So Iffy, how did it go?"

The brunette hung her head, "…A complete failure."

Neptune raised a questioning eyebrow at the Guild member, "How could you fail? Compa and I were dealing with that girl with the axe."

"It was the other girl. The one from Lastation."

As if on que Black Heart popped out of the snow, slightly disoriented, "What happened?"

Neptune, Compa and IF turned their attention to the white haired girl who had disrupted IF's attempt at apologizing to Heero, "What should we do, Nep-Nep? She ruined our plan again!"

The swordstress narrowed her eyes at Black Heart, "Simple, we make an example out of her. We need to teach her the painful way why it is not acceptable for her to keep coming after Heero."

Finally, the mystery girl poked her head out of the snow, looking very irritated, "…Damnit it all to hell! Why are all of my attempts ending in failure?! I'm just trying to kill one guy! This is pissing me the hell off!"

Heero stepped out from behind the tree, completely untouched by the cloud of snow that had fallen seconds ago. The Perfect Soldier was about to check on the group of girls to make sure they were okay, when he suddenly caught sight of Gust once more, "I won't let you go this time, Gust."

The Perfect Soldier was immediately after Gust, who began to run away in turn. With Heero gone, the mystery girl had little reason to stick around, "…I'm out of here."

Black Heart was quick to leave as well, since Heero had left, "No reason for me to stay here. I've got to go after Heero…"

Both girls left before Neptune, Compa or IF could stop them, "Damnit! Now what do we do? They're just going to go after Heero again, and we don't have any more eggs!"

"Not quite, Iffy."

IF turned to look at Neptune, who had her arms crossed, "What do you mean? That was the last gold egg, right?"

The swordstress gently shook her head, "I bought an extra egg while we were getting things put together. We can use that as our way of getting Heero somewhere we can apologize to him."

Compa looked between the two girls before focusing her attention on Neptune, "But Nep-Nep, what if those girls come after him again?"

"We've tried to play it safe, but that hasn't worked out for us. We'll just have to take our chances and tell Heero before they show up."

All three girls did not like going in without any kind of plan, but with the repeated attempts and failures mounting up they saw little they could do. With their last attempt decided, the trio ran in the direction that Heero had gone, hoping that their fourth attempt would prove successful.

Xxx

Heero had lost sight of Gust yet again, and had returned to finding the remainder of the plastic eggs that the girls had hidden around the city, "I am almost finished with the mission. I will look for Gust once it is complete."

As he walked down the street, the teenaged soldier was finding it increasingly difficult to uncover the locations of the Easter Eggs left by the girls. Heero was actually having to look for the plastic objects that were scattered around, "…They obviously saved the most difficult portion of the mission for last."

While Heero was searching for the eggs, Neptune, Compa and IF were gaining on him, "Alright, it looks like Heero is moving towards the last Gold Egg. This is our last chance ladies. If we fail here, then the operation is a bust."

The girls advanced towards Heero as he searched for the eggs, making sure to stay out of sight until he found the last Gold Egg. There appeared to be no sign of either Black Heart or the mystery girl, which raised their hopes that they would be able to apologize to Heero for the mishap from before.

Unfortunately, just as fate can raise one's hopes, it can just as quickly dash them into thousands of smaller pieces and laugh in your face. Black Heart was trailing Heero close by, making sure to stay out of the Perfect Soldier's sight, and that of the trio who were already following them, "(…I can't walk up to him now, or Neptune and her two lackeys will ambush me. I need some way to get Heero by himself…)"

A shorter distance away from the teen was the mystery girl who had made several unsuccessful attempts to rid herself of Neptune's bodyguard, "…Shit. Those stupid bitches are too close. I can't go after Heero without at least one of them jumping me. If I can get Heero alone, then…"

The young axe wielder's face contorted for a moment and was accompanied by a sneeze, which caused Heero to come to an abrupt stop to scan the area, "…It would appear that I am being followed."

Heero continued down the streets of Guild City, searching for both the eggs that Neptune, Compa and IF had hidden, and Gust so that he would be able to question her about the chocolates he had given to the girls on Valentine's Day, all while on the lookout for who or whatever was stalking him.

Slowly, the teenaged soldier collected the eggs and eventually came upon the last Golden Egg, which was carefully hidden in a bed of flowers in a park near the center of Guild City. As Heero examined the small plastic object, Neptune, Compa and IF approached the Gundam pilot from behind.

They still could not see either of the two girls who had repeatedly gone after Heero, giving them hope that their plan would work after all, "…It looks like you've found the last egg, Heero."

Heero turned to see the trio of girls standing a few feet away from him, "...I have been under the impression that there was more to this little egg hunt then simply gathering plastic eggs."

Neptune, Compa and IF exchanged glances and closed the short distance between themselves and the lone male party member, "Well… yes, we had an ulterior motive for planning the Easter Egg hunt."

The Gundam pilot retained his silence and waited to hear the reason why the girls had planned this whole event, "Heero… we came up with this idea because of what happened on Valentine's Day. We can only imagine how violated you felt after what had transpired."

Compa hung her head, an overwhelming feeling of guilt hanging over her, "We felt terrible for what we did, but we didn't know how to make it up to you…"

Even IF had her eyes cast down to the ground, "We can understand if you want to leave us after what happened. We just wanted to say that-"

"…I've got you this time!"

The party looked up to see none other than the blue haired girl in the air, heading straight for Heero. Before the axe could hit its target, a sword came seemingly out of nowhere and blocked the axe blade, "…You again?! Get the hell out of here, you dumb bitch! This doesn't concern you!"

Black Heart was standing in front of Heero, preventing the young girl from attacking the Perfect Soldier. With a burst of strength, the swordstress forced the mystery girl back, "You better believe it concerns me! Didn't I tell you to leave Heero alone?!"

"Sorry, I can't understand the words that come out of the mouth of a horny bitch!"

Black Heart could feel her face beginning to heat up, "Wh-What do you know?!"

"I know that you're a horny-ah… ah… ahcoo!" The mystery girl sneezed and began to use her axe as a support. "…bitch."

Heero watched the event that was unfolding before him, then noticed that Neptune, Compa and IF were seething, "…They're ruining our moment… again."

The trio readied their weapons, preparing themselves to brutally maim and/or kill Black Heart and the blue haired girl. Both girls stopped their argument and noticed the trio of angry females, "…The hell are you three looking at? You want to fight?! I'll be the living shit outta yo-ah… ah… ahcoo! …You."

Black Heart readied her sword in preparation for what seemed to be an inevitable fight, "Let's go! Fair and square! I'll show you just how much stronger I've gotten!"

As the situation was about to escalate, Heero suddenly caught sight of Gust, "…You won't get away this time."

The young Alchemist saw Heero running towards her, she tried to get away, but the Perfect Soldier was too fast to outrun. Heero grabbed Gust by her arms to keep her from getting away, though she struggled to get out of his grip, "Please do not hurt Gust!"

"Gust, calm down. I have no intention of causing you any harm."

Gust stopped resisting and looked at Heero, "Now, I have an honest question, and I need an honest answer. What did you put into the chocolates I bought from you?"

"…Well, Gust accidently added… Love Potion."

Heero sighed mentally before releasing the young alchemist, "…I see. Then there are four women here that I owe an apology."

A just like that, the group of girls that looked about ready to kill each other were knocked off balance and looked at the Gundam pilot, "Wh-What?"

Heero directed his attention to the group of girls, specifically; Neptune, Compa, IF and Black Heart, "Had I checked the gifts I had given you, I may have found out about the Love Potion, and would have given you another gift to replace the chocolates."

The Perfect Soldier gave a small bow. "For that, I apologize."

Neptune and the others stood there dumbfounded. They had been following Heero around the entire day to apologize to him, and here he was apologizing to them? "Wait… I thought we were the ones that instigated the events of that day?"

IF's arms dangled at her sides, "So… you're saying that we came up with this whole plan to apologize to you…"

Compa picked up where IF left off, "And we hadn't even done anything wrong?"

The group of girls was unsure of what to make of the situation, they had wanted to apologize to Heero for Valentine's Day, yet he was the one apologizing to them for what had happened because he didn't check the chocolates.

Black Heart narrowed her eyes at Gust, "It sounds like its Gust's fault. She added the Love Potion."

The blue haired axe wielder made a vain attempt to stand on her own, but still was forced to hold herself up with her axe, "…I don't know what the hell is going on, and I don't give two shits about it. I'm just here to- ah… ah… ahcoo! …Kill Heero."

The Perfect Soldier removed his jacket and draped it over the young girl's shoulders, taking her completely by surprise, "You are in no condition to be killing anyone. You should focus more on recovering from your illness."

Slowly, the mystery girl's cheeks turned a light shade of pink, "(…Why the hell is he being so nice? I'm trying to kill him here.)"

Neptune, Compa, IF and Black Heart walked up to the Gundam pilot, "Are you still mad about… well…"

"Us trying to get into your pants?"

Neptune, Compa and Black Heart were embarrassed my IF's bluntness, "D-Don't say it like that!"

"I didn't want to, but we need to get this over with."

Neptune had her eyes cast down to the ground, "We're sorry about what happened, Heero… Can you forgive us?"

Heero looked at the girls who looked sorry, and although they did not seem like it, they looked like they would cry if Heero did not accept their apology, "…I accept your apology."

As soon as Heero turned around, he felt two pairs of arms around him, "Now that we've cleared that up, why don't we go back to our room, Heero? I'm sure no one will bother us if we're quiet."

"But I want to be alone with Heero, Nep-Nep!"

Both girls began to tug on his arms, "I asked Heero first, Compa. Besides, he's MY Destined Lover."

"But he's my Destined Lover, too!"

IF and Black Heart were growing increasingly jealous as Neptune and Compa fought over the Gundam pilot. Eventually, their emotions got the better of them and they joined in on the tug-of-war over Heero, "I thought I told you two that Heero doesn't belong to anybody?! (Because he's mine!)"

"Why can't you leave Heero alone?! He obviously doesn't like this! (Which is why I will take him back to Lastation with me!)"

Heero mentally sighed as the quartet of girls fought over him, "Another typical day…"

Xxx

Me: (Lying face down on the ground)

Neptune: (Transformed and looking at Author) "Are you alright?"

Compa and IF: (Walk into ACCC) "Nep-Nep, have you seen-" (Sees Author lying on the ground) "Kya! Mr. Author! Are you okay?! Are you hurt?!"

Black Heart: (Enters from other entrance) "He's been like this for a while now…"

Heero: "I believe he is suffering from yet another writer related condition."

White Heart: (Pokes Author with her axe) "…You still alive?"

Me: (Suddenly stands up with fists in the air) "フリーダム!" Translation: "(Freedom!)"

Neptune: "Are you okay? You were lying on the ground for quite a while."

Me: "I was buried under paperwork and projects during the school year… And then I had internet problems…"

IF: "That sounds awful… and your school sounds evil."

Me: "It is! But finally I have graduated, and it is Summer baby! I finally return my attention to the story."

Black Heart: "So… no more delays?"

Me: "Hopefully. I've been getting a number of PMs from our reviewers asking when I would update the story.

Compa: "Isn't this the Easter Special? It's past Easter though. Are you going to work on any of the other Bonus Chapters you've been working on?"

Me: "If I do, the sequel to this story won't come out until after Christmas. There is one thing that has been bugging me… why has everyone only now started to think of Gundam and Hyperdimension Neptunia crossovers?"

White Heart: "…Isn't it obvious? They're all a bunch of dumb, lazy bastards."

Me: (Stares at White Heart) "Don't say it like that! We'll lose reviewers that way."

White Heart: "It's the truth. You came up with a good idea that everyone else couldn't, so they had to steal it."

Me: "Uhh… could you wait in the Lounge for me?"

White Heart: "…Fine, but don't keep me waiting."

Me: "(Waits until White Heart enters the Lounge) "HUDDLE!" (Heero, Neptune, Compa, IF and Black Heart huddle with Author) "We're gonna lose reviewers if she starts spouting off stuff like this, so I'm open to any suggestions to keep her quiet."

Compa: "We could put her in a cement brick and toss her into the ocean." (Everyone stares Compa) "D-Did I say something wrong?"

IF: "We're trying to keep her quiet, not kill her."

Neptune: "We could forcibly restrain her with ropes and tape."

Heero: "Neptune's method does fit the criteria, and is very cost effective."

Me: "Alright, commence Operation: Bound and Gag the Fowl Mouthed Girl!"

Heero, Neptune, Compa and IF: (Leave for Lounge)

Me: (Turns to Black Heart) "Noirey, you get to wrap up the BC this time."

Black Heart: "Well, alright. It's really important and someone has to do it."

Me "I knew you'd understand Noirey. Also, my good readers, I have recently taken to playing Elsword to help with writer's cramp. If any of you happen to play it, the character I use most of the time is my Sheath Knight that uses my pen name for a nickname. I also run the Guild OtherGamindustri, if you're interested. Friend me, and I'll talk with you about the progress of the story, or anything pretainingto Elsword… or just anything in general." (Leaves ACCC)

Black Heart: "Read and Review this chapter. N-Not that I care anything, it would just give our Author motivation for writing, I don't care about your reviews one bit." (Leaves ACCC for Lounge)


End file.
